Tan Kin Lian's Blog: The economics of public transport

Thursday, October 18, 2007

The economics of public transport

Public tranport is more convenient and efficient. A big bus can take many people. The passengers have the comfort of being driven to their destination. The buses can move around to carry passengers all the time.

Private cars are costly and congest the roads. They require parking spaces when they are not being used.

In many cities, due to inadequate attention to public transport, many people opted to buy a private car. More roads have to be built and they still get too congested. The parking spaces are insufficient. Life is inconvenient for everyone.

We need a bold approach. We have to make public transport more convenient and more comfortable. There should be sufficient buses and trains to offer shorter waiting times and a comfortable ride, including a seat.

To the country, there is more cost saving if more people take public transport.

Can our transport authority in Singapore take a bold step? Can we increase the capacity of our buses and trains two or three times (by more buses and trains operating at shorter intervals)? Can we offer a better choice for people to take public transport? Can we have convenient feeder services to support our trains and express buses?

People take planes for long distance travel. They can opt for first or businss class. They do not need to fly a private plane. We should offer this type of choice for our public transport as well.

4 comments:

BBBBBBB said...: Great point. I personally feel that finding a parking space is a pain. But the problem with public transport is, they take way too long to arrive and for all those time that we are wasting our youth away, waiting for a bus that might come just any moment, or not - we could have gotten to our destination much earlier. Plus we are always greeted with overcrowded trains and buses - it's really really not pleasant.; October 18, 2007 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: As a regular user of public transport, the frustration is not about capacity per time.If you increase capacity per time, that will only increase the stopping time and prolong the travel time per journey. Increasing the frequency make more sense.

I always disagree with how the airline company segregate the plane into first/business or economy segments. In the first place, isn't it the duty of airline company to provide a comfortable traveling experience for all. Since when man is made to sleep while seating. We seem to accept that it is an acceptable norm and practice to travel over many hours seated upright with min leg room unless we are willing to pay more.; October 18, 2007 10:02 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: I agree with the following points:

1. We should provide buses and trains at more frequent intervals

2. With larger capacity, i.e. through more fequent arrivals, most people should have a comfortable seat. They should not be required to stand nearly the entire journey.

3. Airlines should give wider seats to their economy class passengers. They should not be put into crammed positions for long journeys.; October 18, 2007 11:03 PM
Anonymous said...: There is no incentive to improve public transport when there is a monopoly, or no political pressure.

Simply, break the monopoly, or change the political environment which the monopoly operates in.

In the meantime, for most people, they will just have to live with it.; October 18, 2007 11:56 PM