Singapore's Public Transport System

Our dear Transport Minister Raymond Lim announced today that he wants to get more people to take the public transport. Particularly for the morning peak hour trips, the target is set at 7 out of 10 trips to be on public transport system. Currently it is at 63 percent.

I wonder if Mr Raymond Lim takes the public transport during the morning peak hours.

Every morning, I have to hustle and jostle with the crowd in the MRT train. Forget abt getting a seat on the train, i'll just be contented with a tiny little bit of space to stand. (Note: this tiny little bit of space is only enough for ur physical body. It does not include the personal comfort space that a normal human being needs)

Sorry to folks who suffer from claustrophobic. There's no such thing as personal space in the MRT during peak hours. I'm just glad that my height gives me more breathing space than others.

It is really a torture to take MRT every freaking morning.

The MRT driver likes to halt to a stop whenever he feels like it... heyhey, there are commuters on the train ok! Imagine me, squashed like an orange, balancing on my pretty high heels and there u are, making the MRT screech to a halt suddenly. Yeah you can imagine what happens next. Most of us lose our balance, causing lots of embarrassment that comes along with it.

What alternatives are there besides the public transport system for the average office w orker who cannot afford the exorbitant prices of owning a car? The public transport system is already the CHEAPEST form of transport here! What else can we use? A bicycle? Walk? These are useless alternatives for a typical office lady like me.

So we, commuters, have to endure with the crowd, give up our own personal level of comfort space, and continue paying the prices which increases at an adhoc basis.

But i guess we are entitled to complaining in our blogs, right? :)

My wish list for the Singapore Public Transport System:

1. Please think of more alternatives (as efficient as the MRT) for the crowd to get from the heartland places to Central Business District Areas in the peak hour mornings.

2. Please come out with some kind of Monthly Transport Concession Pass for taking the MRT/bus. (For e.g. A fixed amount per month that would allow u to take as many rides as u want, somewhat like the student pass but make it available for the general public as well)

3. Please train the MRT drivers not to stop the train suddenly. (Remember the office ladies who are standing on heels!) oh, and Please do something abt the glitches on the MRT tracks. Whenever i am standing on the train, i can feel like glitches on the tracks, as if it is not smooth (bumps). It causes the MRT to jerk. (Not good for the office lady on heels as well).

4. Maybe you can come out with double decker trains. So that more seats will be available. Its really a torture to balance on high heels in the early mornings when ur eyes are still half closed.. and another torture to balance on high heels in the late evening when u are so tired from work.

5. Please seek the opinion of commuters before increasing the prices of the transport system again (even though i know that the commuters dont really have a say in this issue). Its easy to increase a few cents through the EZLINK card system. Yeah, we dont really know the prices when we use the EZLINK card cos the deduction of money is gone within a beep and we dont usually know how much is being deducted. but still, price hikes makes us unhappy and its bad to have unhappy commuters right?

In summary, I just wish for a UNCROWDED, EFFICIENT, REASONABLY-PRICED transport system.

Is that too much?

p.s: i dont usually write this much but this issue really boils my blood. Sometimes i really wish that all the Ministers and Prime Ministers and MPs and whatever big shot should start using the public transport themselves. Not like a 15 min "test-trial" basis but like really use it daily. it's only then maybe they can really start to understand how we commuters really feel.