My friend lives in Melbourne. He said that there are many trams operating in the city center. It is easy to get into a tram, which comes within 3 to 5 minutes. Many people use the tram to get around the city easily.
It is difficult to drive a car in the city center of Melbourne as the trams have the right of way, and they are "all over the place".
The trams also operate to the suburbs at lower frequency. They keep to a time schedule, so people can plan their journey. Many people find the trams to be more convenient.
The trams operate on electricity. It is more efficient than buses.
I hope that Singapore can have a tram system within the central business district and the housing estates.
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Everyone is always saying how good so-and-so country/place has it compared to Singapore. Does no one have any complaints?
ReplyDeleteEvery time, HK is brought up as a good example. Are there really no complaints?
(The point is to make sure that we don't blindly copy other people's system, including their flaws.)
The trams in Manchester where I'm studying now run through the city centre, but they take a lot of planning to incorporate into the road/building layout in the design phase, much less a built-up area.
ReplyDeleteAlso, accidents do happen since pedestrians are less mindful of tram tracks than roads, especially in busy CBD.
Maybe expanding the existing LRT system would be more helpful, though it might potentially be more confusing for elderly folk.
I had always observed the operations of Tram system (Europe & Australia) seems nice, but has many disadvantages, mainly inflexibility. It is usually not used on busy streets within the city and buses & cars would usually have to give way to it. From "land usage" perspective, tram would likely not be good option. Lastly, it is also expensive & takes much time to implement & maintain. (Feedback for your suggestion)
ReplyDeleteThe problem in Singapore is not the form of transporting people, but it's quality.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that public transportation is in top priority in Singapore - as many prefer to use private vehicles to travel also in the city centre.
The public transportation companies don't attempt to attract people to use them - as the buses and trains are crowded - people are packed like sardines.
They are not planned to be comfortable for the passengers - but to maximize the profit of the companies (there are more places to stand than to sit)
Therefore, the problem is not that nothing is done to solve traffic problems, but what is done is done for the purpose of making money, and not serving the public.