My friend from Paris gave me an update of the city's proposed car sharing scheme. It will involve 3,000 electric-operated vehicles. The city is inviting proposals from private sector operators to run the car sharing scheme, which is expected to operate from 2012.
This is an interesting approach. The city government is able to find the parking spaces and clears the regulatory hurdles. The private sector will operate the schemes under some regulated pricing.
The advantage of the proposed car sharing scheme are:
- use of electric vehicles, which is friendly for the environment
- each vehicle can be shared by many users in a day (save parking space) and reduced number of vehicles
I hope that a similar scheme can be set up in each of the towns in Singapore to provide local transport from residential areas to MRT stations and bus terminus.
Tan Kin Lian
Kin Lian,
ReplyDeleteYou are quite entrepreneul. Should get some backers to start one.
This kind of initiative needs regulator and politicans to be interested. They have the power. And the regulators need a $3 million oldman to start forecasting, otherwise nothing gets done.
ReplyDeleteOff Topic.
ReplyDeleteBut I just cannot believe how shameless and desperate our Straits Times is getting.
"Singaporeans shining in Ivy League",
Straits Times, 25 June, page B4
22 year old Singaporean Mr Tomi Jun Wei
- in 2010, graduates valedictorian from Dartmouth College, USA
- at age 12, his newly divorced mother took him to Canada to start life afresh
- as a young boy, he was in the Gifted Program in Henry Park Primary School where he completed his PSLE
- he deferred his final year in university to return to Singapore where he did his national service from 2007 till 2009
- "there was a $75,000 bond for my exit permit to study abroad and my uncle, a FARMER in MALAYSIA, used his land as collateral"
- "My mother is still renting her apartment. She never had enough savings to put down the downpayment to purchase it"
I was dying of shame when I read his story.
Since age 12
- Canada nurtured his talent
- his mother worked in Canada to support him
- his MALAYSIAN farmer uncle used his MALAYSIAN farmland as collateral
What did Singapore do for this young man?
- impose a $75,000 bond on his exit permit
In my humble view, this young man should repay Canada and not Singapore for nurturing him and his mother.
While this is a good idea in Paris, the same idea may not work here because the people are different. A sizable proportion of the population is unable to see beyond the needs of their own self.
ReplyDeleteAlso, don't forget the argument "since so much has been invested in the train/bus networks, their use should be maximised".
Sound like a good idea for Singapore as Singapore is a city state. I believe similar schene should work in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a very eco-friendly idea for the singaporeans. The concept of the Electric cars should be promoted in order to save the traffic and the parking space
ReplyDeletecar engines