Racial zoning

[Wd40]

Off topic, but MRT is really cheap.

Because it is hugely subsidised via taxes.

Do you imagine the cost of providing a spiffy new rail system is 75% less here, than maintaining and running one somewhere else like Aus or Europe?

The reason it is so cheap is to do with the cost of putting a Dinky car on the road being something like S$200k, people HAVE to have some affordable way to get to work.

Tax the hell out of the car drivers, to subsidise the MRT riders?

SMRT and Comfort Delgro(which owns SBS) are public listed companies aren't they? and they are profit making companies, inspite of fares being so cheap. In what way are they subsidised?

The only way the high cost of car ownership, helps the public transport companies, is by way of more volume of people using public transport and high utilization rate. That's not subsidy. You can call it a bit of monopoly. Being a monopoly they could easily increase their fares a fair bit, if they wanted, considering cars will still be beyond reach for many people.

[JR8]

SMRT and Comfort Delgro(which owns SBS) are public listed companies aren't they? and they are profit making companies, inspite of fares being so cheap. In what way are they subsidised?

The only way the high cost of car ownership, helps the public transport companies, is by way of more volume of people using public transport and high utilization rate. That's not subsidy. You can call it a bit of monopoly. Being a monopoly they could easily increase their fares a fair bit, if they wanted, considering cars will still be beyond reach for many people.

'The [MRT] lines are built by the Land Transport Authority, a statutory board of the Government of Singapore, which allocates operating concessions to the profit-based corporations, SMRT Corporation and SBS Transit. '

State infra-structure, tendering to, er, two 'public' companies for operating licenses.

I'd love to have a dig through the accounts and find all the government subsidies in there. After all, no private company is going to spend billions to give passengers 50 cent rides.

The SMRT/SBS could increase fares, sure, they're a monopoly. But the government won't let them, as it would cost them big time at the ballot box. Oh, here we are back at point #1 I think.

[zzm9980]

Off topic, but MRT is really cheap.

Because it is hugely subsidised via taxes.

Do you imagine the cost of providing a spiffy new rail system is 75% less here, than maintaining and running one somewhere else like Aus or Europe?

The reason it is so cheap is to do with the cost of putting a Dinky car on the road being something like S$200k, people HAVE to have some affordable way to get to work.

Tax the hell out of the car drivers, to subsidise the MRT riders?

I just assumed most of the cost savings were the lack of Western type regulations and costs. Union labor, environmental impact reports, safety standards, etc. Look at California's High Speed rail. It's going to cost like 10x as much as China's, it goes slower, and 20-30 years to build. If it's ever even built.

[zzm9980]

As people hate on SMRT/SBS here, just look at MTR in Hong Kong. From what I understand, they were given the land itself they to build the stations on. So a lot of stations aren't just stations, but super mega developments that include condo towers, high end malls, and skyscrapers.

Just one, ICC in Hong Kong, one of the tallest buildings in the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internatio ... rce_Centre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR_Corporation

[movingtospore]

Hannieroo, It's underwritten for the local 1st & 2nd time buyers, but how about for those who have bought resale HDB flats on the open market and paid a pretty penny for them?

Yeah, and I think...forbidding renting would just turn hdbs into ghettos like subsidizied rentals worldwide...I actually the HDB system is one of Singapore's great successes...but it has now become a victim of it. By owning an asset - that they could do with as they pleased - people were given a leg up. What now? We'll see.