Skip to main content

Great, more gantries

Like many others, my mother and I were astounded to see the new Toa Payoh ERP gantry the other day. I remember that sometime ago, some official guy said that they take great care in working out the location of gantries and they wouldn't want to make people pay ERP charges just driving to the market or something like that. Well, looks like some people may have to start paying while driving to the market now. And going to school. Or to work. Apparently, this and the other latest gantries will only be used if necessary. I.e. if the traffic flow goes below a certain speed. Ya, sure, like they will put a gantry there and not use it at all.

Earlier this week, there was also this report of some official statements about the ERP and a telephone survey the ST did about the ERP. Here are a couple of astounding findings:

1. 'Fewer than half of all motorists pass through ERP gantries on their way to work' (based on 295 people interviewed). Duh. We don't all stay or work in the same places, what.

2. '... higher prices (ERP rates) are not enough to scare most motorists away'. Duh again.

And some astounding statements:

1. The LTA said there were 'general improvements in traffic speeds' after the increase in ERP rates (last November). Traffic was going within the 'optimal speed range' of 45-65kmh. Traffic on 'secondary' roads was also within the optimal range of 20-30kmh. I've forgotten how they arrived at the 'optimal' speed for peak hour traffic but if I had to drive at 20-30kmh to work on a daily basis, boy, will I be grumpy by the time I get there. By the way, three-quarters of the 295 people did not agree that peak hour traffic had improved.

2. The head of the GPC for Transport said that 'Singapore should improve its public transport network to help those who cannot afford to drive'. Tell us about it. Haven't people been saying that we need improvement for years? Anyway, isn't the idea to make public transport such a viable option that even those who can afford to drive wouldn't mind switching to the bus or MRT sometimes or all the time?

Also on road issues, I really think people shouldn't be driven around in lorries, even if there are fewer than 20 people on them or whatever. So what if no one was killed in yesterday's accidents? 53 were injured, which means that 53 people could have died... I also notice that many of the people driving these lorries are rather reckless. Even when driving during peak hours and on expressways...

Picture from here.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

True train school

‘Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.’ How would you like to have such a headmaster? I finally re-read (read it first as a teenager) Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window , a ‘school story’ by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, translated by Dorothy Britton. Totto-chan is the name Tesuko Kuroyanagi called herself, and the book is about her life during her school days at Tomoe Gakuen. Totto-chan was expelled from her first elementary school because of her ‘disruptive’ behaviour, which included constantly opening and closing her desk top (because she was so thrilled by it), ‘vandalising’ her desk (because there wasn’t enough space on the piece of paper to draw) and standing by the classroom window waiting for street musicians to pass by or talking to swallows. Her mother, although probably alarmed about the ...
3 comments
Read more

No wonder

According to a poll of about 300 people, reported in yesterday's Sunday Times, (how come nobody ever asks me these things?) , the Seven Wonders of Singapore are (in order of merit): 1. The Esplanade (a whopping 82 votes) 2. Changi Airport (53 votes) 3. Sentosa 4. The Merlion 5. The Singapore River 6. Food 7. Mount Faber and LKY (tie - 10 votes each) Some 'offbeat choices' which didn't make it to the top 7: aunties selling tissue paper at coffee shops, Singlish, kiasuism, 4D-Toto outlets and Newater (said someone of Newater: 'We are probably the only country with branded recycled sewage.' Well said, ha ha.). Maybe it's a personal bias but I feel that a 'Wonder' must also have strong historical and cultural/social value (so I'm rather miffed that Angkor Wat didn't make it to the 7 Wonders of the World; in fact it was never in the running for the top 7). Therefore, these choices are a little too modern for me. The Esplanade, for example, is a...
8 comments
Read more

True train school - a bit more

I realise I didn't give the context of Totto-chan's story, so here it is: Mr Sosaku Kobayashi, the headmaster, started Tomoe Gakuen in 1937. Totto-chan was in school during the WWII years and the school was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids, before she completed elementary school. Here is something from the last chapter, entitled 'Sayonara, Sayonara!' "The school that had been the headmaster's dream was enveloped in flames... In the midst of it all, the headmaster stood in the road and watched Tomoe burn... 'What kind of school shall we build next?' he asked his university-student son Tomoe, who stood beside him. Tomoe listened to him dumbfounded. Mr Kobayashi's love for children and his passion for teaching were stronger than the flames now enveloping the school. The headmaster was cheerful." Indeed, a man ahead of his time. The school was never re-built, and Mr Kobayashi passed away in 1963. In her postscript, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi explained ...
Post a Comment
Read more