Cars in Singapore

COE prices have gone up due to the cut in quotas. Many people, especially those with children, said that they need a car due to the poor transport system, e.g. overcrowded trains and unreliable bus schedules. Allowing more cars to be owned will not solve the problem, as our roads are too congested and there are insufficient parking spaces in the offices and residential estates.

In brief, we have a bad transport system in Singapore. Our hope is that in 5 to 10 years time, when more MRT lines are opened, it will be better. Meanwhile, the construction of the MRT lines add to the congestion and pain. We have to be prepared to suffer many more years, due to the bad planning during the recent 15 years.

There is something that can be done urgently to improve the situation.  We need the Land Transport Authority and the two Transport Ministers to be willing to listen. They only need to look to Hong Kong and find out why their transport system is so much better than Singapore. Hong Kong has light buses to bring people conveniently to the train stations and an efficient taxi system (compared to the terrible de-regulated system in Singapore). Many people said that the Hong Kong system is convenient and inexpensive, compared to Singapore.

Tan Kin Lian