Need a public-transport role model? Try Singapore
Like many people, I love my car. A car is also essential for my work as a doctor, as house-call requests come in at all hours of the day.
However, I am aware of the hidden societal costs of driving private cars, in terms of noise and air pollution, space utilisation, traffic congestion and road accidents.
Parking charges, therefore, should reflect these costs.
Meanwhile curbing our love for driving is, of course, predicated on a sound and reliable transport infrastructure.
Here, I disagree with suggestions that Singapore’s public transport system is inefficient (“Go car-lite? Have proper infrastructure in place first”, Letters, July 14).
In 2014 Siemens commissioned a study of transport networks in 35 major cities around the globe, and concluded that Singapore’s was the best and worthy of emulation. We were lauded for our highly integrated governance, reliability, punctuality, long-term planning and ability to cope with long-term growth.
Other ranking studies have come to similar conclusions.
It is true that sometimes things do not appear rosy and perfect, especially when our desired smooth passage from Point A to B is thwarted by a lack of transport routes or breakdowns. But we must remember that Singapore is doing well.
Our policy solutions and infrastructure are an endless work in progress, needing constant experimentation, innovation and incremental advancements to fine-tune.
This unyielding task takes great political will and also forbearance on the part of all our citizens. Nothing worthwhile achieving ever did come easy.
Yik Keng Yeong
Singapore
(From the Straits Time/ANN)
