LTA = Land Transport Amateurs

[offshoreoildude]

They're like 1950's British Road Designers. Utterly hopeless at working out new methods or following state of art designs.

1. Case 1. Lock down all traffic lights to red on an intersection when the green man is on and save some lives. Jeez - let people cross diagonally like they do even in hick town Perth! Example - Thompson Road and Moulmein/Newton Road. EVERYONE needs to cross diagonally - at the moment they have to cross one street - wait - then cross the other one - WHILE running the risk of being hit by a car turning on a green light!

2. Turning lanes. freak 3 lanes into 1 one lane to go on to an expressway with a tiny triangle of land in between! Class example; Thompon Road turning into the PIE on ramp to go to Jurong. Typically 3 lanes trying to squeeze into one turning lane.

List some more that show these guys are hopeless. And BTW - I'm allowed to say they're hopeless because I've had the joy of working with the idiots.

[curiousgeorge]

They're not idiots, its part of the government initiative to get people off the roads and onto public transport

You have to admit, the busses and MRT are unrivaled anywhere in the world for efficiency...if an MRT train breaks down it still makes the front-page news in SG...imagine that in the UK, the newspaper would be thick as a bible every day if they published every breakdown, even just the Northern line!

[JayCee]

They're not idiots, its part of the government initiative to get people off the roads and onto public transport

You have to admit, the busses and MRT are unrivaled anywhere in the world for efficiency...if an MRT train breaks down it still makes the front-page news in SG...imagine that in the UK, the newspaper would be thick as a bible every day if they published every breakdown, even just the Northern line!

I disagree, the public transport system in HK beats this place hands down. Tokyo as well. In HK they will actually hold a train if there's one from another line approaching over the platform so people can get it, compared with here that lets the train leave just as everyone gets off and tries to run across the platform to get on the next one (go to Jurong East at about 8am every morning to witness this first hand, or Raffles place on the platform with green line going east and red line going north)


The buses in London aren't so bad nowadays either. I've had to wait more than 20 mins for a bus here on numerous occasions, that doesn't say efficiency to me.

[nakatago]

rant on

They're not idiots; they just hate people, especially pedestrians.

Walking along the north bound side of Scotts road, you need to cross 4 lights just to cross Stevens road or Commonwealth Ave cross Holland Ave. Two lights just to cross Crawford street which is a four lane (two lanes each way) non-busy street. One light to cross Queen street along Bras Barah road which you can cross with a long jump! Too much money and didn't know where to put all those lights they ordered?

Try crossing from Novena Square to get on the north bound side. You either have to use the underpass and end up in United Square or walk over to Novena church, take the overpass. There's an underpass that lands you in Revenue house but they didn't mark it clearly so people could save some walking...you also end up taking the bus stop if you took the overpass still, by the way.

Several crossings only give you less than 30 seconds to cross more than 8 lanes--and those crossings don't have the ez-link readers for old people. Like going to Sim Lim Square coming from Jalan Besar. Or 15 seconds for Thomson Lane to the Old Police Academy Bus stop.

They put up park connectors with bicycle lanes but when you follow them, they expect you to carry your bicycle over overpasses just for you to go on. And no, they don't give you alternate routes so you can continue riding.

Why is it more expensive to get off at the bus stop at Holland Village MRT than the bus stop by Holland Village along Holland Road? This is from the same starting point and it's pretty obvious that the Holland Village MRT bus stop is nearer.

And I agree how good the Tokyo train system is. Also, famous Shibuya, all lights turn red and just let all pedestrians walk to wherever--diagonally, zig-zag, spirals, whatever as long as they're within the alloted time (which is sufficient for you to cross).

/rant off

[offshoreoildude]

+1 to LTA hating pedetrians. How many pedestrian crossings get turned into torturous underpasses that take 10 times as long to get through and offer no disables acccess? It must be a dozen alone in the Scotts Rd and Orchard Rd area. Why are drivers allowed to turn on green lights when a green man is on? There must be about 10 people killed every year that way. The LTA allow private transport (cars) to rule over pedestrians every time.

[nakatago]

The LTA allow private transport (cars) to rule over pedestrians every time.

Those geniuses who come up with these policies probably never take public transport.

With the heat or the rain (and don't get me started again on the tiles), people would really be discouraged to walk more. How many times I've seen Singaporeans wait for 15 minutes for a bus only to get off at the next stop which would have taken them 5 minutes to walk. Can't blame them.

It's not unusual in Japan to see high-ranking officials (corporate, government) in the subway so they know what it's like for the average Takeshi.

[offshoreoildude]

ERP was advanced when it was first released. Now a stored value card system is about 15 years behind every other country that has a e-toll system where the car owner is billed directly or the e-toll bill goes direct to a credit card. It drives me nuts have to top up a cash card (which is a major attraction point for thieves). Why can't we be trusted to pay an e-toll bill (post) if we are trusted enough to drive on the road?

[offshoreoildude]

They're not idiots, its part of the government initiative to get people off the roads and onto public transport

You have to admit, the busses and MRT are unrivaled anywhere in the world for efficiency...if an MRT train breaks down it still makes the front-page news in SG...imagine that in the UK, the newspaper would be thick as a bible every day if they published every breakdown, even just the Northern line!

MY complaint about one turning lane onto the PIE from Thompson Road is highly relevant to bus drivers. Secondly - WHY don't buses have right of way all the time?

[winnoe]

It's not unusual in Japan to see high-ranking officials (corporate, government) in the subway so they know what it's like for the average Takeshi.

I LOL'ed when i read this.

Not sure if we remember the famous Mah Bow Tan making the sweeping statement "Our transportation is world class and blah blah blah".

He gets challenged by the public to take a bus on XX route. He finally does so, and eats his words afterwards saying that public transportation could use "a few tweaks".

[nakatago]

It's not unusual in Japan to see high-ranking officials (corporate, government) in the subway so they know what it's like for the average Takeshi.

I LOL'ed when i read this.

Not sure if we remember the famous Mah Bow Tan making the sweeping statement "Our transportation is world class and blah blah blah".

He gets challenged by the public to take a bus on XX route. He finally does so, and eats his words afterwards saying that public transportation could use "a few tweaks".

HUDAT?



/s

[nakatago]

WHY don't buses have right of way all the time?

Why don't emergency vehicles get right of way?

[x9200]

ERP was advanced when it was first released. Now a stored value card system is about 15 years behind every other country that has a e-toll system where the car owner is billed directly or the e-toll bill goes direct to a credit card. It drives me nuts have to top up a cash card (which is a major attraction point for thieves). Why can't we be trusted to pay an e-toll bill (post) if we are trusted enough to drive on the road?

A few years ago there was a system in place allowing you to automatically charge your LTA ERP fines (yes, fines, not the ERP charges) to your credit card. Of course it was a paid subscription service. Not sure if the system still exists.

[nakatago]

A few years ago there was a system in place allowing you to automatically charge your LTA ERP fines (yes, fines, not the ERP charges) to your credit card. Of course it was a paid subscription service. Not sure if the system still exists.

Oh boy, that sure is a very good incentive!

Geniuses.

/s

[Strong Eagle]

ERP was advanced when it was first released. Now a stored value card system is about 15 years behind every other country that has a e-toll system where the car owner is billed directly or the e-toll bill goes direct to a credit card. It drives me nuts have to top up a cash card (which is a major attraction point for thieves). Why can't we be trusted to pay an e-toll bill (post) if we are trusted enough to drive on the road?

Swap out your in vehicle unit for a new one. Cardless... charged to bank or credit card as you set it up.

[Strong Eagle]

Here's what gets me. You pay 140% vehicle registration tax. You pay nearly $60,000 to get a COE. You pay $1 or $2 each time you smack an ERP gantry. This is _supposed_ to control total volume of traffic so that Bangkok like traffic jams are avoided and driving is a pleasant and quick experience.

But look at the reality... over the last five years, traffic has decidedly deteriorated all over the island... look at CTE, or Bukit Timah... or CBD.

So what you really have these days is paying $100,000 for a $25,000 car with no real benefit, and seemingly, no real plans to cope with the additional traffic generated by population increases and overall improvements in affluence.