Interesting sign board

I always see this whenever I go to the HQ, it can be found in a back alley.... and finally about a month ago when I was there, I took a picture of it. Interesting sign board, I must say!

When Perry Tong is not around, hee hee...

When the President, Perry Tong is not around (on a lighter note): (click here for bigger image)

About 30 minutes later, (click here for bigger image)

From left (back): Firuz (Exco), Glenda (Secretary), Faisal (Exco), Lilian (Exco), Mohd (Exco) & Melvin (Exco)

From left (front): Choong Yong (Exco), Chee Wei (Exco) & Bernard (Exco)

Absent: Perry (President), Salim (Vice-President) & Shaun (Exco)

Letter of complain to SBS Transit

My youngest sister who is currently studying in SIM travels on bus no. 156 very frequently. Practically every night when she reaches home, she will complain and complain and complain about the bus services and waiting time.

The last straw came on 31/07, whereby she could no longer take it anymore and she directed an email straight to SBS Transit. Below is the content:

To whom it may concern,

Firstly, I would like to express my displeasure that bus 156 has an extremely large frequency between arrivals. Approximately 8/10 times, I had to wait for at least 25 mins for the bus despite the bus guide at the bus stop that states 156's frequency is 14 mins. It was the same during two years ago when I studied in NYJC at Serangoon avenue 3; I always had to wait for 156 for outrageous period of time. There has been quite a number of times that I actually waited for 35 mins or so.

Secondly, regarding today's incident, which also has happened on several occasions previously, is regarding bus captains who actually seem to have no intention to slow down when approaching a bus stop. The bus stop at Bouganvillea Park (Bukit Timah Rd, opposite the Chinese High School), to start with, does not have a good position. It is extremely difficult to make out what is the on-coming bus, because it is blocked by tall bushes just before the bus stop.

Due to this 'blind spot', I had noticed several times, commuters at that bus stop often are unable to flag down the bus in time. However, it is not the position of the bus stop that I am unhappy with.

This would not happen if bus captains are meticulous enough to actually slow down when approaching bus stops, especially bus stops that are situated like this. Regrettably, many bus captains like to drive very fast at night. I am not making a sweeping statement here; it's just that this type of incident is very typical especially during night time.

On 31/7/07 Tuesday, I waited for the bus at the mentioned bus stop for 25 mins, and the 156 finally came. I saw it emerge from the blind spot about 50m away, and quickly flagged for the bus, reached for my bag and tried to take out my wallet. When I looked up again, the bus had already dashed off! It was less than 2 seconds I suppose. So I waited for another 25 mins for another 156 to come. I spent a good 50 mins at the bus stop, which I could have used the time to do many other things.

I would suggest that SBS let bus captains know the importance of their job.

We all know that our transport system is government-monopolized, thus every commuter has to depend on it, whether we like it or not. But we all also know that Singapore is working towards service excellence, isn't it?

Please look into the matter, and I hope SBS Transit will take prompt action to rectify these problems.

Thank you very much.
(Picture taken from sbstransit website)

What colour will this be?

The Singapore Land Transport authority had granted Prime Car rental & Taxi Services a taxi operator licence.

With this latest addition, there are now 8 taxi companies in Singapore. Singapore is rank the first when it comes to the number of taxis (proportionate to our population).

Currently we have; yellow, black, blue, white, silver, green, red and sometimes if you are lucky you can see gold. So what will the colour of Prime taxis be?

ERP rates at Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel to go up

Extracted from channelnewsasia.com

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is increasing Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates for motorists entering the Orchard Road area. From August 6, cars passing the Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel gantries will be charged an additional $0.50. That makes it $1 per entry. Rates for motorcycles will also double to $0.50. Goods vehicles and small buses will now be charged $1.50. Heavy goods vehicles and big buses will be charged $2.

This must be a big blow to people who drives to work in town. Out of curiosity I searched the LTA website and thought that this might be something which a lot of people wondered about:

Aims of having ERP:

- Charges are levied on a per-pass basis and rates are set based on traffic conditions at the pricing points.

- A motorist is encouraged to decide whether to drive, when to drive and where to drive.
He may choose a different route, mode of transport, time of travel, or not travel at all.

- Those who choose to pay and stay on the road will enjoy a smoother ride.

Benefits:

- Fair

Charges are based on usage so those who contribute more to the congestion pay more. Those who use the roads less frequently or who travel during non-ERP hours will pay less or not need to pay at all.

- Convenient

Motorists need not purchase daily/monthly licences.

- Reliable

As a fully automated system, there is no risk of human error as human enforcement is not required.

As such, was there any improvement on your journey along the CTE, PIE, etc?