‘Cannot drive below 90kmh’

Some events are really that unfortunate… do you have yours to tell? The below story tells of how really unfortunate some things are, especially if your expectation and image of the company is high. As has always been the case, a small dot of ink of a clean, white sheet will be noticed, immediately noticed, and will always be remembered…

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Letter from Dinakar Sethuraman

I HAD an unfortunate incident when I went to receive five friends from India who were visiting Singapore on May 24.

We booked an SMRT limousine at Terminal 3 and paid $16 as limo charge. My wife has a neck problem and there were two old women and a child in that group of five.

When they got into the cab, my wife told the driver that he must drive carefully and slowly because of a neck problem.

In the past taxi drivers have always been careful. But this limo driver drove recklessly, above 90kmh, even after repeatedly being asked to slow down. He claimed that he cannot drive below 90kmh in Singapore.

My tourist friends, who had been impressed with Terminal 3, were very unhappy with the experience. My wife experienced severe neck pain for two days because of the ride.

I called SMRT to complain and they filed a report. Subsequently, someone called back, did not give his name and said that they would monitor the driver, before putting the phone down.

It seemed quite a callous dismissal of a complaint from a customer.

I wonder why one should pay a premium for a limousine for such poor service. I would expect SMRT to take action again the driver and refund the premium of $16 paid.

A country's image is formed at the airport and such experiences do not do justice to this otherwise hospitable city.

From TODAYonline.com, Voices – Monday, 01-Jun-2009; see the source article here.

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Will soft approach work?

As graciousness campaign starts, some want penalties imposed

Zul Othman, zul@mediacorp.com.sg

A NEW graciousness campaign has been launched to get train commuters to give up their seats for the elderly and make way for alighting passengers. But given how some still refuse to do so, after years of gentle reminders, is it time to bring the stick — in the form of fines and penalties — into play?

Ms Jessie Tan, 28, definitely thinks so.

On her train trips home, she has seen seated commuters blatantly ignoring elderly passengers who are left standing for most of their journey. “I’m all for a fine system, it would make people think more about those around them,” said the executive.

Mr Donnie Jei, 33, thinks of penalties as a good deterrent but actual enforcement would be a problem.

“A lot of manpower would be needed. You’d have to hire inspectors, and spend money so they can catch people who don’t give their seats to little old ladies,” said the technician, who travels to work by train every day.

Asked if it would consider imposing penalties in future, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) declined to comment as it wants to pursue the public education aspect of the public education programme first.

The Public Transport Council-led initiative, ‘A Happy Journey Starts Like That!’ was kicked off on Saturday morning.

Signs for priority seating on MRT trains have been standardised — the new blue-and-white signs now indicate “Reserve Seating”, as a more forceful call for passengers to give up their seats to the needy.

New floor queue lines have also been installed at 11 MRT stations, with a green arrow for passengers exiting the trains, indicating that they have the right of way.

Images of television icons Phua Chu Kang and Rosie also appear on trains and buses, asking commuters to be gracious.

PTC chairman Gerard Ee is confident the campaign will be well received. Looking at the number of people blogging or posting online their complaints about commuter behaviour, he told 938LIVE: “People are more aware and beginning to say, ‘look, enough is enough, we want things to improve’.”

With a graciousness campaign like this, “you’re not accusing anybody of being the guilty party. You’re just saying ‘these are nice things to do, let’s just all do it, and then all of us can enjoy using the public transport system’.”

Programme service ambassadors — comprising staff and volunteers from the LTA, SBS Transit and SMRT — will be stationed at some MRT stations during the morning and evening rush hours to help commuters give way to those alighting.

From TODAYOnline.com, Voices, see the source article here.

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Faster and cheaper

CIRCLE LINE

Fares same as for North-East Line, when five stations open on May 28

Leong Wee Keat

weekeat@mediacorp.com.sg

WHEN the first five stations of the Circle Line swing into operation two days early on May 28, you would shave as much as two-fifths off the time it takes to travel from Buangkok to Toa Payoh Hub, or 15 per cent off the fare.

That’s because the journey using the new MRT line would be both 7 minutes quicker and cost 26 cents less than on the current train lines. And the Circle Line trip will take 18 minutes less than the direct bus Service 159, though the fare would be 14 cents more.

Overall, with the links that the new line will provide, more than 31,000 adult train trips per week would see fare reductions of between 5 and 77 cents. Commuters will also see travel time cut by as much as 27 minutes, depending on their origin and destination stations, said the Public Transport Council (PTC) yesterday.

Train fares on the new Circle Line will be the same as on the North-East Line (NEL), when service begins at Marymount, Bishan, Lorong Chuan, Serangoon and Bartley stations. Currently, a ride on the NEL costs 5 to 25 cents more than on the North-South and East-West lines.

Announcing this, the PTC noted that the projected unit operating cost of the Circle Line is at least 2.5 times that of the North-South and East-West lines, and similar to that of the NEL. Indeed, the Circle Line “is expected to operate at a loss in its initial years”, observed the council.

On the five-station stretch, automated three-car trains — which can hold about 930 passengers each — will run every 3 to 4 minutes during the peak periods, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

Boost for bus connectivity?

Residents can take comfort in the authorities’ assurance that no basic bus route will be changed with the opening of the Circle Line stretch. When the NEL opened in 2003, at least 20 services were stopped or re-routed.

And the good news, for those not within walking distance of the new stations: The LTA said a few private operators have expressed interest in providing bus services to some of the stations.

Cheery Bus Transport Service has applied to run a premium bus service linking Sin Ming Estate to Marymount MRT Station. The PTC is processing the application.

Bus Hub has also shown interest in running a service between Serangoon Gardens and Serangoon MRT.

The operator has conducted a market study and is still exploring the possibility, said director V Anilan. Some factors he is mulling over: Market size, bus schedules and fares. “I’m careful about going in,” Mr Anilan told Today. “We don’t want to enter a service but close the route in less than a year.”

As for the Circle Line operator, when asked about the projected initial operating losses, SMRT Trains vice-president Vincent Tan said: “As the next four stages of the Circle Line complete and open progressively, we expect ridership to grow ... We expect Circle Line to be accretive when the entire line opens.”

By then, it is expected that about 10 to 15 per cent of trips currently made on the most heavily-loaded sections of the MRT network would have moved over to the Circle Line.

From TODAY, News– Friday, 17-April-2009