Little Thought Apparently
The LTA recently announced that they were considering scrapping bus bays, thus allowing buses to simply stop in the left-most lane at bus-stops, holding up the entire chain of vehicles behind it.
I find the responses in the Straits Times today rather amusing and of point:
"I READ with amusement about the proposed closing of bus bays by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a bid to cut travelling time ('Bus bays may be axed to help cut travel time'; ST, Feb 13).
The LTA has taken aggressive steps to improve bus services without consideration for other vehicles on the road.
First, it closed off one-third of the road for the exclusive use of buses, affecting taxis and other vehicles. Now, it plans to axe bus bays which will affect vehicles travelling in the left-most lane.
Closing the bus bays will deter other vehicles from taking the left-most lane. Once stopped behind a stationary bus, other vehicles will try to filter into an outer lane, which could result in accidents, near misses and slowing of traffic in other lanes.
Eventually, all vehicles will tend to avoid the left-most lane, which will increase congestion on roads where there are bus stops.
No amount of statistics can justify why a major road that takes only 66 per cent of its designated load is always congested.
I am a daily bus commuter and a weekend driver. Allow me to pinpoint the root problems experienced by many commuters.
First, unrealistically extended bus routes contribute to a one-hour ride from point A to point B when 30 minutes is possible.
Second, the low frequency of buses results in overcrowding and difficulty in boarding the bus. Therefore, the bus needs to stop longer at the bus stop.
One often sees the bus driver urging passengers to move to the rear of the bus. This is reinforced by announcements on the bus PA system. We are also having premium bus services for those who wish to avoid taking overcrowded buses.
Lastly, I would like to ask the LTA to slash road tax by 30 per cent - since we will no longer use one-third of the road.
Edward Ngui Yong Siang"
Here's another one:
"AFTER the recent announcement of the implementation of full-day bus lanes on certain roads within the city area, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has now decided to do away with bus bays on a trial basis so as to further increase average bus speed.
It was reported that this initiative is based on an internal survey by a bus company which indicated that 9 per cent of travelling time is spent waiting to get out of the bus bay.
I believe closing bus bays will only cause traffic to pile up behind buses and create other kinds of problems, including congestion and accidents resulting from impatient driving.
If extra space is not created on the road, managing traffic is actually a zero sum game as any extra benefit accorded to one group of motorists has to be at the expense of other groups of motorists.
Can the LTA explain why it is implementing various initiatives so as to increase the speed of buses - which are known and have been accepted as a slower form of transport?
In addition, buses carry far fewer passengers per trip compared to trains.
The LTA should try to increase the speed of trains instead, as this will not be at the expense of anyone.
Tan Wee Ko"
To avoid sounding repetitive, suffice to say that I agree wholeheartedly with the learned authors of the above letters to the ST Forum. The whole notion of abolishing bus bays is just ridiculous and a clear indication of the narrow-minded focus of probably some "task force" in the LTA set up to look into reducing bus transport time. What happened to the "task force" to look into reducing traffic congestion for the rest of the motorists, who incidentally pay hundreds in road tax, as compared to 80 cents for a bus ride?
To put is bluntly, I have been less than impressed with the LTA in recent times. Frequent and arbitrary increases in the ERP charges with only a few days' notice each time, massive road works (using taxpayers' money) to replace a barrier with an almost identical barrier (ie. Benjamin Sheares Bridge), and now crazy suggestions to cause greater congestion all around the island. I suppose when traffic gets clogged up due to the absence of bus bays, they'd use it as an excuse to set up ERP gantries along these bus bay-less roads?
Disappointing.
I find the responses in the Straits Times today rather amusing and of point:
"I READ with amusement about the proposed closing of bus bays by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a bid to cut travelling time ('Bus bays may be axed to help cut travel time'; ST, Feb 13).
The LTA has taken aggressive steps to improve bus services without consideration for other vehicles on the road.
First, it closed off one-third of the road for the exclusive use of buses, affecting taxis and other vehicles. Now, it plans to axe bus bays which will affect vehicles travelling in the left-most lane.
Closing the bus bays will deter other vehicles from taking the left-most lane. Once stopped behind a stationary bus, other vehicles will try to filter into an outer lane, which could result in accidents, near misses and slowing of traffic in other lanes.
Eventually, all vehicles will tend to avoid the left-most lane, which will increase congestion on roads where there are bus stops.
No amount of statistics can justify why a major road that takes only 66 per cent of its designated load is always congested.
I am a daily bus commuter and a weekend driver. Allow me to pinpoint the root problems experienced by many commuters.
First, unrealistically extended bus routes contribute to a one-hour ride from point A to point B when 30 minutes is possible.
Second, the low frequency of buses results in overcrowding and difficulty in boarding the bus. Therefore, the bus needs to stop longer at the bus stop.
One often sees the bus driver urging passengers to move to the rear of the bus. This is reinforced by announcements on the bus PA system. We are also having premium bus services for those who wish to avoid taking overcrowded buses.
Lastly, I would like to ask the LTA to slash road tax by 30 per cent - since we will no longer use one-third of the road.
Edward Ngui Yong Siang"
Here's another one:
"AFTER the recent announcement of the implementation of full-day bus lanes on certain roads within the city area, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has now decided to do away with bus bays on a trial basis so as to further increase average bus speed.
It was reported that this initiative is based on an internal survey by a bus company which indicated that 9 per cent of travelling time is spent waiting to get out of the bus bay.
I believe closing bus bays will only cause traffic to pile up behind buses and create other kinds of problems, including congestion and accidents resulting from impatient driving.
If extra space is not created on the road, managing traffic is actually a zero sum game as any extra benefit accorded to one group of motorists has to be at the expense of other groups of motorists.
Can the LTA explain why it is implementing various initiatives so as to increase the speed of buses - which are known and have been accepted as a slower form of transport?
In addition, buses carry far fewer passengers per trip compared to trains.
The LTA should try to increase the speed of trains instead, as this will not be at the expense of anyone.
Tan Wee Ko"
To avoid sounding repetitive, suffice to say that I agree wholeheartedly with the learned authors of the above letters to the ST Forum. The whole notion of abolishing bus bays is just ridiculous and a clear indication of the narrow-minded focus of probably some "task force" in the LTA set up to look into reducing bus transport time. What happened to the "task force" to look into reducing traffic congestion for the rest of the motorists, who incidentally pay hundreds in road tax, as compared to 80 cents for a bus ride?
To put is bluntly, I have been less than impressed with the LTA in recent times. Frequent and arbitrary increases in the ERP charges with only a few days' notice each time, massive road works (using taxpayers' money) to replace a barrier with an almost identical barrier (ie. Benjamin Sheares Bridge), and now crazy suggestions to cause greater congestion all around the island. I suppose when traffic gets clogged up due to the absence of bus bays, they'd use it as an excuse to set up ERP gantries along these bus bay-less roads?
Disappointing.
Labels: commentary, The Straits Times
posted by feelingsleepy | 7:12 am
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