More Road Woes

Transport Minister Raymond Lim is quick to blame heavier car usage for the shrinkage of public transport trips.  Public transport’s share of the total number  of trips made during the morning peak period shrank to 59 percent last year from 63 percent in 2004, and 67 percent in 1997. What he refuses to acknowledge is that he has failed miserably to provide an affordable, reliable and accessible public transport system, and still gets to enjoy his million dollar paycheck.

Public Transport Council chairman Gerard Ee hinted as much when he said, “I am optimistic because by 2010, we will have the same rail density as New York today. Even if we don’t meet the target, we will get pretty close to it.”  Based on 2008 Land Transport Statistics from LTA, rail density in New York is about 45 km/million persons, compared to Singapore’s 24 km/million persons.  If “we will get pretty close to it”, and 2010 is just one year away, somebody should really buck up and do the job he is overpaid for.  The same source of statistics also tell the story of why Singapore motorists have been punished and abused wrongly for congestion not of their doing. Road density in Singapore is a pathetic 4.5 km/sq km compared to New York (12 km/sq km) and Tokyo (18 km/sq km).  Hongkong may have fewer roads, but they more than compensate by having a public bus fleet per million persons ratio of 1,500, more than twice that of Singapore’s 745.  So why is the minister not building more roads and adding more buses to the fleets?  Waiting for GST to hit 20%?

Lim may be blinded in his missionary zeal to increase use of public transport and pile on the disincentives of driving, such as road congestions, high ERP tolls and parking charges, but some basics of transportation are inviolable.  Associate Professor Anthony Chin of the National University of Singapore puts it thus: “If someone lives in Changi and works in Clementi, and commuting by public transport takes 1 1/2 hours, and a car takes 20 minutes, you don’t need a PhD to know which mode he will pick.”