Singapore's Land Transport

Google Maps Tests Walking Directions... in Singapore!

2012-04-01T21:13:00.005+08:00

Google Maps launched walking directions 4 years ago. Now, the useful feature finally lands in Singapore, in beta.

Hot from partnering LTA on offering transit (public transport) directions, it appears that Google has up the ante by offering walking directions along main roads at this point of time. It would be better if Google includes sidewalks, pedestrian paths, and even park connectors to truly offer a world class walking guide.

If you have not tried it, hit Google Maps and find walking directions right away. Be sure to select Walking directions, which is the third tab featuring a walking man.

Click here for some history.

New MRT map, updated with Circle Line Extension

2012-01-12T23:39:00.002+08:00

The Circle Line Extension will open on 14 January 2012. Three stations will be added -- Bayfront station serves Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, and the Gardens by the Bay opening in June 2012; Marina Bay station for convenient transfer to North South Line; and Promenade where the extended line interchange with existing Circle Line.

MRT breaks down again on North South Line

2011-12-17T10:13:00.001+08:00

Train services on North South Line were progressively disrupted on 17 Dec 2011. This comes after a major disruption on similar stretches of the North South Line two days on 15 Dec 2011 that saw 4 trains stuck in the tunnel due to damaged power rail.

Following SMRT's update here, there was no train service initially at both bounds between Newton and Marina Bay at 7:55am, but the disrupted sector grew to both bounds between Toa Payoh and Marina Bay at 8:18am. However at 8:25am, northbound train service was partially restored with train service from Raffles Place to Jurong East, and southbound train service between Toa Payoh to Marina Bay was still unavailable.

SMRT did better this time round by giving minute by minute travel advisory on their website. They also set up a Twitter account to push update through social media, which they promised to do so in the 16 Dec press conference. As of writing the number of followers grew from 684 to 766 within a short span of 15 minutes. However, there are rooms for improvement for their communication. For example, from SMRT's advisory, the clarify on where bus bridging service was available only came more than an hour after the disruption occurred.

What happen this time round? SMRT has not issued a press statement detailing the causes yet. However, the affected stretches are similar to Thursday's incident, which immediately sets off alarm that the two incidents of 15 Dec 2011 and 17 Dec 2011 could be related. Although SMRT did a splendid recovery job to restore the train network after the 5-hour outage on 15 Dec, and ensured safety was not being compromised by clearing the affected track (i.e. having staff to walk from one station to another for verification check), alas this could not prevent another incident from happening again at the same stretch.

If you need to travel to the affected stretches, you can use the free bus bridging service provided between Ang Mo Kio and Raffles Places on both bounds, and Marina Bay and City Hall on both bounds. Alternatively, these are alternative bus services to town from the towns along North South Line:

From Sembawang: Service 167, 980
From Yishun: Service 851
From Ang Mo Kio: Service 132, 162, 166
From Bishan: Service 54, 57
From Toa Payoh: Service 105, 143

As of writing, there was no incident of smashing train door's glasses. Were you affected by today's train service outage? Do share in the comments your experience.

Follow the latest news from SMRT on their website or Twitter @SMRT_Singapore
The latest MRT map is here.

Book a cab through a NFC-enabled phone

2011-10-20T01:36:00.001+08:00

In the past, booking for a taxi used to be a cumbersome affair. One had to dial the taxi booking number and navigate through the voice selection menu before speaking to the call operator to confirm the pick up location, and then come the wait for a taxi number. The whole process could take more than 5 minutes, excluding waiting time when you just could not get to the call operators.

Recently, with the proliferation of smartphones, the taxi companies have jumped onto the bandwagon by offering a simpler way to book a taxi through smartphone apps. Taking advantage of the location aware smartphones, one just need to tap through the app and select a pick-up location, bypassing call operators.

Now, booking for a taxi gets a lot simpler and faster, thanks to Nokia's push for Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled devices and partnership with merchants. Nokia tied up with ComfortDelgro (Comfort or CityCab) and SMRT to simplify the taxi booking process so that it now involves just tapping a NFC-enabled phone on a NFC tag. The processes involved are:

Tap the NFC-enabled phone to a NFC tag for taxi booking (see pictures below)
NFC-enabled phone reads the information in the NFC tag which store the location code of the taxi pick-up point
NFC-enabled phone sends the information of location code via SMS to the taxi booking system
Taxi booking system matches a taxi to the booking request
Taxi booking system sends a SMS to the NFC-enabled phone to confirm the taxi booking

Tap a NFC-enabled phone at the green area (where the NFC tag is) to initiate a taxi booking

Phone reads the NFC tag with location code and asks user to initiate the booking via SMS

Another spot to book a taxi via NFC-tag embedded in media wall in MRT stations

Currently, the NFC taxi booking is available at more than 400 locations across Singapore for Comfort and CityCab taxis. I believe most of these locations are in restaurants, customer service counters, and even in offices. The locations make sense when you are leaving a restaurant after lunch or dinner, done shopping, or rushing off for a meeting.

For SMRT Taxis, the NFC taxi booking are available at media walls currently available at 7 MRT stations managed by SMRT, which will eventually be expanded to other SMRT stations. The question is: do you need to book a taxi when you are already in a MRT station?

In any case, the NFC tie up between Nokia and the transport operators is really a good service that simplifies taxi booking. This shows one of the potential where NFC can offer innovative and convenient solutions in the transport industry (applicable to other industries too, such as marketing campaign, information dissemination/education, security management etc). I will write more on the application of NFC in transport in another post.

By the way, if you are interested to know which phones are NFC-enabled, read here. To find out more about Nokia's effort in promoting the adoption of NFC, click here.

Latest MRT map with Circle Line

2011-10-15T08:42:00.000+08:00

This is the latest MRT system map on display now at all MRT stations after Circle Line stations from Caldecott to Dhoby Ghaut opened on 8 Oct 2011.

So far, the initial days of the new line opening was faced with teething problems of delays. Trains stopped intermittently between stations for a few minutes before moving on and interchange stations were crowded during peak hours. There were also cases of passengers asking for the huge difference in fares (in the region of 10-20+ cents) when they start their journey at only one station apart.

Despite these, the new Circle Line stations brings more convenience to many workers, students, and leisure goers. For me, I love the accessibility to new dining places in the west, such as Holland Village, Adam Road Food Centre, Pasir Panjang Food Centre etc. I will also check out the nature spots such as Botanic Gardens, Labrador Park, Haw Par Villa, Southern Ridges etc.

Come January 2012, Circle Line will be further extended with a spur from Promenade to Marina Bay, with a station serving the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort (i.e. casino) along the way.

[Note: Please click here if you are looking for MRT map with Downtown Line.]

iPhone 4S releases in Singapore on 28 Oct 2011

2011-10-05T06:50:00.000+08:00

Apple announces the new iPhone 4S, which is just an internal hardware upgrade while keeping the same design. It comes with a faster dual-core processor, better camera at 8 megapixels photo taking and 1080p video recording with video stabilisation, and longer 8 hours battery life on 3G.

iPhone 4S release date in United States is 14 Oct 2011, alongside with Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

The second wave will see iPhone 4S releases in Singapore on 28 Oct 2011, alongside with 21 other countries. Interestingly Hong Kong will not get it on the same date as Singapore which is usually the case. Will Singtel gets to launch iPhone 4S first before M1 and Starhub, similar to iPhone 4 last year? Most likely. How much will it cost? It is likely to cost about the same as current iPhone 4 pricing, if not more due to stronger US Dollars recently.

iPhone 4S releases in 7 countries in 14 Oct 2011

iPhone 4S release in 22 countries in 28 Oct 2011

So what has iPhone 4S got to do with this transport blog, you may ask? The link lies with a media invite I got from Nokia. Originally, Nokia was throwing a media event to showcase "a new range of NFC-enabled devices, along with an innovative NFC experience in Singapore that will bring greater convenience to our daily lives". The event was scheduled on 4 Oct 2011 (GMT+8). However, after Nokia sent out the invite, little do they know that Apple fixed a media event on iPhone on the same day too, whose event is likely to dwarf Nokia's in terms of coverage and eyeballs. Hence, it is likely that Nokia decided to hold off the NFC media event in light of the Apple's iPhone event.

I have yet to get a new date on the Nokia NFC media event. Though the PR person has confirmed that there will be NFC features related to transport. Will keep you guys posted.

Missing piece of bus arrival times from SMRT

2011-08-16T07:43:00.003+08:00

Without fanfare, SMRT launched the bus arrival times information for all SMRT bus services at all bus stops. With this, the missing piece of puzzle in getting SMRT's bus arrival times is finally in place.

In the past, SMRT only supported a handful of bus arrival times information mostly at the Western Academic Belt and a few LTA-initated bus arrival panels sprinkled over the island. It is not hard to imagine that cost of providing the real-time bus arrival information is halting SMRT from committing to fleet wide deployment.

What has changed this time? Perhaps Minister Lui Tuck Yew directive is the answer. During his first 100 days in the office of Ministry of Transport, he shared that one of his immediate priority to provide bus arrival information and some sort of colour codes to indicate bus loadings.

If you like to try SMRT's latest toy, do visit their website here. There's no colour coding as yet, but it's a milestone from SMRT that finally places both bus operators on the same footing in providing basic bus arrival information . Sorry folks, no smartphone app as yet!

Next step? An integrated bus arrival information portal showing both SBST and SMRT information. LTA has got to harmonise both set of real-time bus arrival information and present in one integrated system -- you won't get one if you leave it to the operators.

SBS Transit jumps on the iPhone app bandwagon

2011-04-12T05:11:00.005+08:00

SBS Transit newly launched iPhone Intelligent Route Information System (iris) app further reaffirms their commitment to provide excellent customer service.

iris is a public transport planning tool that advices passengers on how to travel (on SBS buses and trains only). Besides providing the suggested route to get from one point to another, the most important and well received feature is the real-time next bus arrival information. Before the launch of iris, waiting for your bus to arrive can either make your blood boil or you simply give up waiting by buying a car (I still remember my 45 mins wait experience for Service 14 on weekday night in Orchard, and no, I still do not own a car).

With the arrival of iris, much of the guess work in knowing when the next bus is arriving is gone, giving you more time to buy a cup of coffee along your way or pick up a copy of newspaper. The point is, you have more flexibility when to arrive at the bus stop without missing your bus.

When iris was first rolled out years ago, much effort was made to keep the system cost low by limiting the number of next bus arrival time queries and passing on 5-cent SMS cost to the users, much to the chagrin of bus users. Hence, some amateur developers came up with their own mashup that allows users to get more than one next bus arrival times at a single query. This led to a huge query which heavily taxed the iris system, so SBS got their engineers to workaround and limit such massive query (in fact, I heard they tried to kill the live feed to developers). This started a game of cat and a mouse chase between SBS and the local developers to bypass each other limitations.

Fast forward to today, there's no more cats and mice chase, but a new era of free information endorsed by SBS itself. While they are not the pioneer to launch iPhone app for next bus arrival times despite being its custodian, their latest offering could spell an end to all other iPhone apps. This could be the app that ends all! Personally, I am quite impressed with the well designed iris iPhone app that is easy to use and offer important features that are not available on other iPhone apps. Here's some quick thoughts:

Design is clean and well thought of. Bus fans/enthusiasts would love the splash screen of SBS latest bus design (Volvo B9TL with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodywork)
App loads fast (real fast!) -- both in terms of bus arrival data and moving through screens
Bookmark -- finally an app that display arrival times of buses at different bus stops in a single screen, so one can immediately decide whether he/she should go to bus stop A or bus stop B to board the bus.
Nearby Map -- the best among all. Bus stops are clearly labelled and set back in their direction of travel so you no longer have to fumble through bus stop codes and check whether you pick the correct bus stop.
Journey Planner -- advice you on how to get to your destination. It's the holy grail of iPhone app as no other apps offer this (though this function can be further improved).

Download the app here.

So what's next SBS? Can we also have iris on Android please? :)

And a side note to SMRT, when are providing us with similar real-time bus arrival data for all your buses? :(

And another side note to LTA/TransitLink, isn't it in your interest to have integrated public transport information? :|

New MRT map... updated with Downtown Line

2010-10-17T18:39:00.003+08:00

[Post-note: The map showing current lines that are operational is here.]

Station names for Downtown Line 1 and 2 are confirmed, while Downtown Line 3 station names are working name. Get ready for a round of station names voting soon!

PTC and LTA clarifies distance fare calculation 'glitches'... but

2010-07-01T07:39:00.003+08:00

PTC and LTA clarify the distance fare 'glitches' that a writer pointed out days ago, but have they clarified enough?

To recap, the writer questioned why is it more expensive to travel on the MRT from Bras Basah to Serangoon compared to Bras Basah to Kovan when the latter is further away. In response, PTC and LTA clarifies that the fares for MRT travel is not based on the distance travelled, but rather on the fastest route of travel, taking into account waiting time and walking times.

We shall do a comparison of the travel time.

Path 1: Bras Basah to Serangoon via transfer at Dhoby Ghaut
Wait for train (Circle Line) - 3 mins
Bras Basah to Dhoby Ghaut (on Circle Line) - 2 mins
Dhoby Ghaut (Circle Line) to Dhoby Ghaut (North East Line) - 3 mins
Wait for train (North East Line) - 2 mins
Dhoby Ghaut (North East Line) to Serangoon (North East Line) - 11 mins
Total time - 21 mins

Path 2: Bras Basah to Serangoon on Circle Line (direct, no transfer)
Wait for train (Circle Line) - 3 mins
Bras Basah to Serangoon (Circle Line) - 23 mins
Total time - 26 mins

This calculation show that the journey time from Bras Basah to Serangoon is faster via a transfer at Dhoby Ghaut instead of taking a direct Circle Line train, contrary to what PTC and LTA claimed. This is even after taking into account of walking time and waiting time as advised by them.

Can PTC and LTA clarify the fastest route so that we have the full picture of the fare setting please?

Distance fare calculation glitches?

2010-06-29T06:58:00.005+08:00

This forum letter appear in today's The Straits Times. The writer claimed that the new Distance fare calculator has some discrepancy over the way it charges passengers taking MRT. The claim is that with Distance fare, passengers should be charged the shortest route in MRT network. The wider question is should passengers have the flexibility of choosing where they transfer in the MRT network, thereby allowing them to reap the benefits of a shorter journey and hence lower fares.

While Distance fare aligned the fare charging to the distance travelled instead of the previous fare stages for buses, such is not applicable for MRT network. The fare charging for MRT network has always been on a fix one charge amount for any pair of station entry and exit. This stems from the spirit that the MRT network is an integrated and seamless one. As there are no intermediate fare gates in the system to record the path that the passengers choose, the only way is to charge them based on the most logical route that they would have take. The discrepancy stems from the way the logical route is determined.

From the two scenarios that the writer presented below, it seemed that there are some interesting anecdoctes that we can draw to help explain the 'illogical' way that fare is calculated for MRT network.

For the first case from Brash Basah to Serangoon, the logical route charged is via a direct train on Circle Line (11.4km) instead of a transfer at Dhoby Ghaut (which would give a fare distance of between 5km and 8.6km).
For the second case, from Paya Lebar to Dhoby Ghaut, the logical route charged is charged via a transfer at City Hall (6.8km) rather than a direct train on Circle Line (7.4km)

As I've explained, there is only one fare charged for any single entry and exit in the MRT network. While the writer advocates charging purely by distance, the current system apparently does not do so. What are the other ways of charging? By shortest travel time? By least number of transfers? By train path with the least crowded train? You're welcome to share your thoughts here.

Distance fare calculation glitches

WITH the impending changeover to distance fares on Saturday, I have been using the distance fares calculator provided by the Land Transport Authority to calculate fares.

While on it, I have noticed a discrepancy in the way train fares are calculated. In certain situations, it calculates a longer but direct trip even though a shorter route exists.

Take for example, a trip from Bras Basah to Potong Pasir, Serangoon and Kovan stations. A trip to Potong Pasir is 5km away and Kovan is 8.6km away. One would expect Serangoon station, situated between Potong Pasir and Kovan stations, to be between 5km and 8.6km away.

However, the calculator gives a distance of 11.4km by virtue of a direct train line between Serangoon and Bras Basah stations.

A quick calculation shows that the shorter distance should be 7.2km. The excess 4.2km given by the calculator means an overcharge in the fare by 34 cents.

From Paya Lebar to Dhoby Ghaut, the reverse occurs. A shorter trip of 6.8km is calculated on the East-West line with a subsequent transfer on the North-South Line instead of the 7.4km direct trip on the Circle Line.

With buses, commuters can choose to transfer for a cheaper fare or take a direct bus with a higher fare. With the train network, there is no such option.

The above examples show that in some cases, the cheaper fare with transfers is charged, and in others, the higher but direct fare is charged. This discrepancy should be eliminated.

Yusry Harfuddin

Source: 29 June 2010, The Straits Times

New MRT map... updated with Circle Line Phase 2 Opening

2010-04-17T10:08:00.004+08:00

[Post-note: The updated map showing the full Circle Line is here.]

The MRT map is finally updated, showing the latest Circle Line Phase 2 opening from Dhoby Ghaut to Tai Seng.

New stations include Dhoby Ghaut, Bras Basah, Esplanade, Promenade, Nicoll Highway, Stadium, Mounbatten, Dakota, Paya Lebar, Macpherson and Tai Seng. With this extension, passengers can enjoy more door step convenience to art museum, Suntec, Singapore Indoor Stadium, hawker fare at Old Airport etc.

LTA and SMRT have done a good job in updating public transport information on their websites, at train stations, as well as publicity such as Circle Line news sheet, full page advertisements in Straits Times, opening ceremony etc.

There is one thing that I've noticed that they could have overlooked though.

SMRT Early Travel Perks. Allows passengers to save 10 cents off their travel if they travel from stations outside of CBD and exit selected stations within the CBD before 7:30am from Monday to Saturdays. With the opening of Bras Basah station, Esplanade station and Promenade station, can SMRT consider extending the early perk to these stations too?

Do share if you have observed anything that could be better improved. Meanwhile, start enjoy the convenience the new stations brings you. Oh, are you catching the Circle Line to S.H.E concert? Don't forget to appreciate the award winning Stadium station (and Bras Basah station too)!

New Circle Line Stations Opening -- Dhoby Ghaut to Tai Seng

2010-04-16T21:02:00.002+08:00

A couple of photos from the Circle Line opening ceremony held at Bras Basah Station. The event was graced by Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Raymond Lim. Participants include LTA and the operator SMRT staff, as well as grassroots leaders in the region and photo taking contests winner. Surprisingly SBS Transit CEO Mr Gan Juay Kiat was also invited and attended.

The event started off with an opening speech, prize presentation ceremony, and a train ride from Bras Basah to Dhoby Ghaut and back.

Apologies for the not well taken photos, but it tells the story nonetheless. Enjoy.

Another taxi location surcharge... and what we can do about it

2010-02-10T20:02:00.002+08:00

Hot from the post this morning on ComfortDelgro being the market follower, I've received strong feedback from an avid reader who is an occasional commentator of all sorts. He does not keep a blog but he feels strongly enough to pen his thoughts. As such, I'm featuring his work as a virgin blogger below.

**********

On 9 Feb 2010, ComfortDelgro announced that they will impose a $3 location surcharge for trips on their fleet of Comfort, CityCabs and Yellow Top taxi starting from Resorts World Sentosa. This follows similar moves by four other taxi operators, namely Premier taxi (18 Jan), SMRT taxi (20 Jan), Prime taxi (28 Jan) and Trans Cab (unconfirmed date). Now the last man standing is Smart Taxi who also stated that they will also fall in line if all other operators implement the surcharge.

Now, what is your first reaction on reading the paragraph above? Do you feel that consumers are again held ransom by taxi companies acting in concerted effort? Do you feel that the taxi industry isn’t really a free market, against all claims of the benefit of having a deregulated industry? Do you feel that in this David (consumers) versus Goliath (taxi operators) fight, David has again been made mince meat by Goliath? If you answer “yes” to any of the question above, did it ever come across to you that rather than Goliath scoring the killer goal, it is David who scored an own goal and surrender the match willingly and unknowingly?

The truth is taxi companies are able to raise fares and surcharges at will simply because the consumers do not exercise their power to choose the best deal. People respond to incentives (as stated in principle 4 of Economic 101) and incentives is the invisible hand that make free market works. In this context, the free market fails because consumers fail to respond to pricing strategies dictated by the taxi companies. As the saying goes, if you don’t exercise your right, you will ultimately lose it.

Simply ask yourself this question. Back in 2008, when ComfortDelgro imposed 35 per cent peak hour surcharge, have you ever boycotted their taxis in favour of smaller players who have yet to impose the surcharge? Similarly, if you are in Resorts World Sentosa now, would you choose a Smart taxi over other taxis just because Smart has no $3 surcharge as yet? Can you then blame Smart taxi drivers for lobbying their companies to follow suit in imposing higher surcharge, if the only “incentive” they see from their company policy of not imposing the surcharge is “lower earning and no increase in businesses” for their taxi drivers? Little wonder that when our last gallant man fell in 2008, one of their foot soldiers, Prime taxi driver Lim Poh Huat said: “Commuters who wanted a cab can’t wait for ours to come along. It is better for us to just follow the big boys” (Source: The Straits Times, 30 Jan 2008).

Well, you may have a thousand and one reasons against boycotting taxis with higher fare structure, but you need to pay for your choice. In this case, simply by inaction, we as the consumers created the “disincentive” against imposition of higher surcharge and fares by taxi companies. Put in simply, we incentivise the taxi companies to continue their practices of imposing higher surcharges and taxi fares.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
~Edmund Burke, a political philosopher and statesman

Now we really need to act as a group to stop this trend. No effort is too small and we can make the difference collectively. So the next time taxi companies raise fares or surcharges, look at the man in the mirror and asked if you are equally responsible for what has transpired.

**********

Commentary from Singapore’s Land Transport: This is a chance for us to act in unison to demonstrate our choice against the taxi location surcharge of Resorts World Sentosa. Here are couple of options:

Take the shuttle RWS8 to VivoCity and continue your journey on taxi or public transport from there. You pay $2 for RWS8 but you’ll save on the $3 location surcharge, and perhaps another 60 cents for the approximately 1km taxi ride from Resorts World Sentosa to VivoCity. This option effectively saves you about $1.60, which earns you a return trip to Resorts World Sentosa on 963R.
Take the boardwalk from Resorts World Sentosa to VivoCity and enjoy the scenic view. You get to enjoy the sea breeze and the panaromic harbour view while doing your bit for the environment by reducing your carbon footprint.
Book a Smart taxi, which is the only company who has not implemented the Resorts World Sentosa location surcharge (as at 9 Feb 2010). You pay $3.50 for call booking which is 50 cents more than the location surcharge, but this is a necessary inconvenience to make your voice heard. Remember: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.
If you ever consider booking a taxi from Resorts World Sentosa, consider booking Smart taxi first (booking number 6485 7799).

ComfortDelgro taxi, the market follower

2010-02-10T08:03:00.004+08:00

ComfortDelgro Taxi has finally decided to impose a $3 location surcharge for taxi trips that begin at Resorts World Sentosa. This completes the "hexlogy" of 6 taxi companies that imposes the surcharge (Smart is the only taxi company that does not).

While this post is not intended to comment on whether the surcharges are justifiable, there are other interesting points for ponder.

ComfortDelgro as the market ~~leader~~ follower

ComfortDelgro prides itself as the market leader with the largest fleet in Singapore. Even though taxi fares are not regulated, ComfortDelgro taxi has always been the market leader in setting taxi fares, from major fare structure overhaul that imposed a draconion 35 per cent surcharge during peak-hour travel, to minor tweaking of increased flag-down rate, tempering with late night surcharges (staggered 10% - 50% vs clear cut 50% metered fare), 30 cents fuel surcharge etc. While some of the remaining six taxi companies did put up a fight by refusing to adopt the fare structure initially (e.g. SmartCab refuse to adopt higher fares in 2006), they eventually relented to the higher fares structure to prevent their taxi drivers from switching to other taxi companies (it was reported that the lower fare structure resulted in a drop of up to 20% in earnings).

Some other companies are willing to be the market follow, and even go to point of saying they cannot lead the fare structure change as they have to follow the market leader, or risk being sidelined by passengers.

However, things have changed. The smaller companies have decided to break away from the shackles of the market leader, and lead the market in imposing a $3 location surcharge for trips that begin at Resorts World Sentosa.

With this move, all seven taxi companies now charge exactly the same fare structure and surcharges.

Public are not informed early of taxi fare changes

Fares are deregulated since 1998. However, a taxi operator has to inform the public of its fare adjustment a week before implementation. However, ComfortDelgro announced on 9 Feb that they are imposing the $3 location surcharge for Resorts World Sentosa on 12 Feb, which gave the public three days notice only. Clearly, either PTC gave a special waiver for this seemingly minor announcement or ComfortDelgro disregards the rule.

COMFORTDELGRO TO INTRODUCE LOCATION SURCHARGE FOR ALL TAXI TRIPS ORIGINATING FROM RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA

9 February 2010 – To cater to the throngs of people who are expected to visit Resorts World Sentosa this weekend, when the casino opens for business, ComfortDelGro will impose a $3 location surcharge for all taxi trips originating from the resort.

This will hopefully alleviate the taxi demand surge that is expected once the casino and the theme parks begin operations.

Mr Yang Ban Seng, CEO (Taxi Business), said: “We did not introduce the surcharge earlier when the resort hotels were opened because there were enough taxis to meet the demand. However, with the opening of the casino and theme parks, we expect a much bigger crowd and therefore a much higher demand for taxis. We have therefore decided to introduce the surcharge now to attract more taxi drivers into the resort to try and alleviate the higher expected demand.”

The surcharge will come into effect from 6.00am on Friday, 12 February 2010. It will be displayed on the meter and printed on the receipt. Passengers may request for a receipt at the end of the journey for detailed breakdown of the metered fare.

Source: ComfortDelgro, 9 Feb 2010

Singapore Airshow 2010... shuttle bus arrangement

2010-02-03T18:42:00.009+08:00

No, your eyes are not fooling you. Singapore's Land Transport is not expanding its news coverage to air transport, though it has every reason to do so to increase productivity to avoid becoming a weaker blog that may have to go. This very post is a little transport guide for you to reach Singapore Airshow 2010, together with snippets of observation and commentary on the transportation aspect.

Singapore Airshow 2010 is held on 2 - 7 Feb 2010 at Changi Exhibition Centre. The first four days (2 to 5 Feb) is reserved for trade visitors, while the remaining 2 days (6 to 7 Feb) is open to public. Visitors have a choice of three options: shuttle buses, taxi or drive-in. The following summarises the transport options available:

(Click for larger image)

The boarding point of the public airport shuttle is at Changi Airport MRT station instead of Pasir Ris MRT station in the previous Airshow 2008 (read more about the snaking queue here). Passengers who are taking the MRT to board the airport shuttle need not worry about higher fares -- the MRT fare to Pasir Ris MRT station is the same as to Changi Airport MRT station, except for a minor group of eastern residents boarding from Simei, Tampines and Pasir Ris stations who will have to pay between 40 cents and 66 cents more. The airshow shuttle is free for public visitors who purchased the entrance tickets ($20 for adult; $8 for child), as the ticket price includes complimentary two-way transfers between Changi Airport and Changi Exhibition Centre. Buses are expected to arrive every 3 to 5 minutes.

For trade show visitors, the airshow shuttle costs $5 per trip per person. If you are attending in groups of 3 of more, it is cheaper to share a cab from Tanah Merah MRT station than to take the airport shuttle from Changi Airport. The cab fare costs about $10.50 (translates to about $3.50 per person), which is cheaper compared to taking the shuttle from Changi Airport which costs $5 per person, excluding the additional MRT fare from Tanah Merah MRT station to Changi Airport MRT station. However, for the return journey, you would need to pool 4 passengers (the maximum passengers allowed) to breakeven due to the $8 location surcharge on top of metered fare.

For those who wish to drive to Changi Exhibition Centre, please purchase a car park label from SISTIC. A single-day, multiple-entry car park label costs $100.

In summary, the financial odds are in favour of public transport options. But, hold on. With such a strong push for people to take public transport, can the public transport handle the anticipated crowd? Let's do a quick calculation.

SMRT is increasing the train frequency of the Changi Airport extension, from 9-12 minutes to 7 minutes. This translate to about 9 train trips per hour. Assuming each train carry about 1,400 passengers (the usual typical weekday peak hour load; maximum allowed under LTA's regulation is 1,600) who are all going to Singapore Airshow, SMRT is anticipating that in the peakest hour there would be 12,600 visitors on its MRT system.

For buses, the buses are arriving at 3 to 5 minutes interval. Assuming that in the peakest hour the buses are running at 3 minutes interval, this translates to 20 buses per hour per pickup point. Further assuming that 70% of the buses are high-capacity bendy buses which typically carry about 130 passengers and the remaining 30% are normal buses with typical load of 75 passengers, the buses can clear 2,270 passengers per pickup location. There are two pick up locations, one at Changi Airport T2 coach area and another at Changi Airport T3 coach area, so in total the shuttle buses can carry 4,540 visitors per hour. This pales in comparison with the anticipated load on MRT. As such, I would expect the shuttle provider to allow multiple boarding at each pickup point, which is possible due to the luxury of coach berthing bays at Changi Airport. Assuming each pick up point allows for 2.5 buses concurrent boarding, the provided capacity increases to 11,350 (note: 2.5 buses at each of the pick up point is derived from 100 buses supplied by the shuttle provider running at 3 minutes interval, with buses split equally between T2 and T3 pick up point).

However, can the capacity provided cope with the anticipated demand? Singapore Airshow is expecting 60,000 visitors over 2 days. Let's assume that there is equal number of visitors on each day, ie 30,000 visitors per day. Let's also assume that 60% will arrive using public transport. This 60% is debatable, but I'm using it as a convenient point of comparison as statistics shows that 60% are using public transport during morning peak hours (in actual fact the public transport usage for airshow is expected to be higher due to the $100 car park fee, offset by families who bought family package of $100 which includes tickets for 2 adults, 2 child and complimentary parking coupon). Let's further assume that 70% will try to catch the 11:30am acrobatic flying display which to maximise their ticket worth (again, 70% is subjected to debate. The high percentage is due to assumption that the highlight of the airshow is the flying display and given that people want to maximise their ticket worth, they would naturally opt to arrive before the first flying slot of 11:30am rather than the later flying slot of 3pm). Working on the above assumptions, the number of visitors that are expected to arrive each day for the 11:30am flying display is calculated to be (60,000 visitors / 2 days) * 60% (public transport users) * 70% (arrive for the 11:30am flying display) = 12,600 visitors.

If all the visitors spaced themselves evenly across the one hour before the flying display, the transport system would still be taxed based on the limited capacity supplied: MRT (11,3500 passengers) or buses (12,600 passengers). As such, my advice to Singapore Airshow visitors is to arrive early if you wish to catch the flying display. There would be plenty of security checks so expect snaking queues and bottleneck at the registration area. If you want to be in time for 11:30am flying display, it would be best to arrive at Changi Airport T2 or T3 coach area before 10:00am to enjoy minimal delay.

Enjoy the Airshow!

First public shuttle to Sentosa by a public transport operator

2010-01-23T11:38:00.005+08:00

In case you haven't noticed, SMRT beats the market leader SBS Transit/ComfortDelgro to secure the exclusive rights to run public shuttle buses to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). I was rather surprised SMRT did not brag about being the first public transport operator to launch a public shuttle to Sentosa (as in my post title) as they have did in the past. If you need further evidence of their bragging history, a few are summarised below:

Southeast Asia's first Euro V bus on the roads (after SBS Transit launched the first Euro IV bus and CNG bus in Singapore)
First free regular shuttle service by a public transport operator (referring to SMRT Link)
Bukit Panjang LRT is the first LRT system...

Anyway, this post is not meant to highlight the importance of SMRT being the first, but rather the implication of SMRT securing the RWS shuttle.

As I've posted in my earlier post, the changing of fate of the two companies SMRT and SBS Transit is due to the the management rather than matter of chance. Since two years ago, SMRT has already beat ComfortDelgro in securing the transport arrangement tender for Singapore Airshow. SMRT has also quietly ramped up their effort to make further inroads into targetting the corporate bus charter business, as well as bundling their buses with taxis, and to a lesser extent the MRT. SMRT is milking its MRT, bus, taxi, and to a lesser extent the advertising arm, to reap synergistic benefit as a corporation -- and it has work!

Ok, back to the topic on bus services to RWS. SMRT is potentially offering up to 8 or 9 shuttle services launching from various points of Singapore, but currently is only launching three from HarbourFront, Outram Park and City Hall. In addition, one express bus 963R (a variant of 963E with the exception of terminating at RWS instead of HarbourFront Interchange) and two night buses NR1 and NR6 are offered too.

Other details are already captured by this excellent post in Singapore Bus Page.

Now let's see who will clinch the bragging rights to "first public bus shuttle to Marina Bay Sands IR".

Top management of LTA, SBS Transit and SMRT... round II

2010-01-17T20:09:00.006+08:00

Slightly more than two years ago, I posted an article on management reshuffle of land transport companies, namely LTA, SBS Transit and LTA. Today, it's timely to do a check again, especially there are new developments since then.

Let's start with SBS Transit. With the departure of Ong Boon Leong, whose drive and energy drove SBS Transit to roll out innovative bus services and marketing promotion, SBS Transit asked Gan Juay Kiat to fill in Ong's big shoes. In an affirmation of Gan's ability to steer the ship, SBS Transit promoted him to highest rank of Executive Director (equivalent of a CEO). However, the SBS Transit under Gan lacks the enthusiasm displayed under Ong. Not only was the hugely popular and successful Ride & Redeem promotion (similar to credit card rewards scheme) discontinued, the entire marketing department slowed to a doldrum that it's hard to tell whether it's still operating. Under Gan's leadership, SBS Transit focused more on cutting costs instead of aggressively growing revenue through new products. Expect SBS Transit to continue cruising along.

Next, LTA. Yam Ah Mee has been in helm soon after the 2004 Nicoll Highway incident. LTA under Yam has transformed itself from a bureaucratic agency to one that strives to be more people-centric. The newly launched community partnership division proves to be hugely popular with grassroots, but motorists are still up in arms with the increasing number of ERP gantries. More rail lines are promised, together with two significant initiatives of central bus planning and distance-based throughfares this year. LTA also gained a new Deputy Chief Executive, Ms Amy Hing, who complements Lim Bok Ngam in assisting Yam in day-to-day work. Expect LTA to be busy delivering the Land Transport Master Plan initiatives as usual until the CEO gets changed, which I expect to be pretty soon.

Lastly, SMRT. Since 2005/2006 where the old TIBS guards fell out one by one, there is currently no TIBS top management in SMRT -- the last man standing Morris Piper quitted ahead of his retirement a few years back. Under Saw Phaik Hwa, the company transformed from a boring rail operator to one that delights customers with lifestyle hubs at MRT stations (what they call Xchanges), thereby bringing more rental revenue. The rental profits proved to be an essential second pillar, apart from the big boulder of MRT operations, in keeping SMRT profits in the black in trying times of high fuel prices and constipated fare increases. Buses and taxis are expected to continue to be a drag to the company, and the management helming both buses and taxis need to be strong, and the company knows that. Already, Lee Seng Kee who used to helmed buses was replaced by a young talented woman Kang Huey Ling in 2008. Fast forward to 2010, the head of taxi business Lo Chee Wen resigned due to personal reasons, leaving the challenging taxi business in the hands of Teo Chew Hoon, the current head of rental and advertising business. No matter how the management changes, the truth is SMRT is no longer interested in growing local business. Instead, they are focusing their energy in opening new foreign market, especially in Middle East, China and Europe. The Palm Jumeirah and Shenzhen buses are small little successes that SMRT can celebrate, but the company need to do much more, and it needs to do fast. Expect Saw to continue to helm SMRT as long as she can deliver increased profit year after year through the expanding rental premises (think Orchard Xchange, Esplanade Xchange). The writing is in the wall -- grow out of Singapore and transform itself to be more ComfortDelgro like (ie more profit from overseas market), or else they have to be contended in making profits only in the highly regulated little red dot.

There is a smaller player TransitLink, which is sensitive to talk about at this point of time. That sums up the current situation of the land transport companies. Your views?

Note: The author does not hold shares of SBS Transit and SMRT, and would love to hold shares of LTA should government floats it. :)

New MRT map... coming your way soon!

2010-01-11T22:39:00.008+08:00

[Post-note: The updated map is here.]

This should have been updated some time ago.

Apart from the usual green and red line, The MRT system map was updated with an orange line demarcating the new Circle Line in the middle of 2009. Interestingly, the updated map also marked Sentosa Express at the end of HarbourFront station, which was surprising as Sentosa Express is not part of the island-wide public transport rail network. If there is a conscience effort to include all "rail-like" system in the map, why not place Changi Airport Skytrain at Changi Airport Station and the Malaysia KTM at Tanjong Pagar MRT too? And if the people move system in one-north ever gets implemented, put it in too!

Anyway, I just want to post the current map here as the MRT system map will be updated when more stages of Circle Line is opened. While LTA has announced that Stage 1 and 2 of Circle Line, running from Dhoby Ghaut to Tai Seng, will be opened by middle of this year, you can be assured that it will be opened slightly earlier than promised due to a particular fondness to "under promise, over deliver".

[Post-note: As expected, the "middle of the year" turns out to be 2 months earlier. Circle Line Stage 1 and 2, from Dhoby Ghaut to Tai Seng, will be opened on 17 April 2010. Read more about it here.]

Click here for full size image

Another iPhone app for bus users

2009-12-07T22:46:00.001+08:00

There are quite a number of iPhone applications for Singapore bus users. Each new product brings another handy differentiating features..

Lately, I've been invited to try out bus@sg which incorporate a missing feature from other apps -- a map that show bus stop locations -- which overcomes the problem of not knowing which bus stops you're boarding at if both bus stops have the same name in opposite directions (e.g. Little India Stn). This app also features a handy flash light that supposedly helps users to flag a bus at night. The truth is, the red flashlight is not obvious or eye catching enough. It has a very well written search code that allows users to search for any information at the search omnibox. I called it an omnibox because it automatically recognises whether a user is searching for bus stop codes, bus stop names, road names or bus route numbers. Generally it's a featured packed app that retails at $0.99, though the general design and user interfaces could be much improved.

Days after I tried out bus@sg, I chanced upon the revamped SG Buses, which took me by surprise. The updated version does everything that bus@sg can do, all packed nicely into well-design graphics and sleek user interfaces. It displays subsequent bus arrival times, which bus@sg does but tranSGuide doesn't, and it tells whether the arriving bus is wheelchair accessible or not (bus@sg doesn't but tranSGuide does). I especially like the cute clock faces while waiting for the arrival times to load -- something which bus@sg and tranSGuide could borrowed from. It does has its limitations and irritations too. The rows width are set too small which interferes with proper selection. Also, the one-of-a-kind swiping motion to bookmark a bus stop is poorly handled, resulting in many failed attempts before one can bookmark. At times (or rather many times ), the app fails to load some bus routes which appear to be random. Yes, bus@sg doesn't display SMRT bus routes too but that's a systematic error which can be rectified easily.

Until the next killer all-in-one bus apps arrive, I'll be relying on bus@sg for my regular use, supplemented by tranSGuide.

Go anywhere with Google Street View for Singapore

2009-12-02T22:25:00.010+08:00

As speculated, Google Street View quietly arrives in Singapore. Being a map tool that offers 360 degree panaromic view, it will change our lives greatly -- from hunting your dream landed house, finding the best chicken rice, checking tourist places before visiting... the possibilities are endless.

Launch of Google Street View Singapore at The Arts House. From left: Mr Derek Callow, Head of Marketing, Google Southeast Asia; Mr Andrew McGlinchey, Head of Product Management, Google Southeast Asia; and Mr Ken Low, Assistant Chief Executive (Marketing), Singapore Tourism Board.

Google has identified several key sectors which they would like to focus on, which are education, property and businesses, and to a lesser extent tourism (STB is their launch partner after all). It's a pity that public transport is not on their radar screen yet, otherwise public transport experience would receive a much needed boon! Nope, I'm not talking about having Street View for MRT (subway) -- with rail lines going underground to free up land and to prevent ugly concrete pillars in our beautiful city state -- rather Google could look having a more integrated experience by enabling turn-by-turn direction for public buses in Street View.

While it offers turn-by-turn view for cars on Android phones (Google's own phone system), the feature is not available on other mobile platforms. Also, some other features are only available on Android phones (sorry iPhone users).

Read about others reactions to Street View for Singapore here:

For the Google Wave invitation contest, I'm sad to announce there's no winner. Never mind, I shall leave it to next opportune time. Better response hopefully!

Street View on Google Maps comes to Singapore

Island-wide, innovative street-level imagery of Singapore to provide new tourism, education, real estate and business benefits

Singapore, December 2, 2009 – Google today announced the launch of Street View in Singapore, allowing users to view and navigate 360 degree street-level imagery of Singapore. Taken by Street View cars along all public roads earlier this year, the imagery includes iconic locations like Orchard Road, Marina Bay and Clarke Quay; cultural areas like Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam; and the heartland like Tampines, Jurong and Woodlands. In addition to viewing the images on your PC, Street View can be accessed on your mobile phone, meaning you now have a virtual photo-based street guide of Singapore in your pocket. See it for yourself at maps.google.com.sg .

First launched in May 2007, Street View is hugely popular worldwide and is available in more than 100 metropolitan areas around the world. Singapore is the first country in Southeast Asia to get Street View and the fourth country in Asia Pacific after Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

In areas where Street View is available, you can access street-level imagery by zooming into the lowest level on Google Maps, or by dragging the orange "Pegman" icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. You can check out a restaurant before arriving, make travel plans, arrange meeting points, get a helping hand with geography homework, or just explore and get to know Singapore better. The coolest way to use Street View is on smartphones so users can do all of this fun stuff on-the-go, anytime, anywhere.

Organisations can also benefit from the Street View technology by putting a business listing on Google Maps for free or embedding Google Maps directly into their websites at no charge. The street-level imagery of their location can help them to promote and increase awareness of their business - whether its a chain of restaurants, a library, a local attraction or even a new hotel. For more tips and videos about using Street View in Singapore, visit maps.google.com.sg/streetview .

Andrew McGlinchey, Google's Head of Product Management in Southeast Asia said, "Street View has been hugely popular with our Google Maps users worldwide so we're thrilled to extend our Street View coverage to Singapore. Imagine all the great uses of Street View here, from promoting tourist hotspots to hunting for property to educating students about historic buildings, and of course, getting directions and searching for businesses. Street View will allow locals and visitors to visit places in Singapore they may not have had a chance to experience before."

Our launch partner, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), is very pleased with Street View’s ability to showcase some of Singapore's best-loved tourist attractions and hidden gems to a global audience. Said Mr Ken Low, Assistant Chief Executive (Marketing), STB, “STB is very excited by Street View's marketing potential as it will further raise Singapore’s prominence and reach through the Internet. People unfamiliar with Singapore can now get a first look at our city. The convenience of Google Maps, and the Street View feature, will give people from anywhere in the world a much better idea and picture of what Singapore looks like, and what it has to offer and we welcome private sector initiatives such as these which help us add value to our visitors' experiences."

Singaporean businesses and organizations keen to leverage Street View

Many other Singaporean businesses and organisations have already identified significant opportunities for Street View to be used in travel, tourism, house buying and renting, education and helping make small businesses easier to find.

Chris Robb, Managing Director of Spectrum Worldwide, OCBC Cycle Singapore event owner and organiser said, “Spectrum Worldwide and OCBC Cycle Singapore are thrilled to be the first local sporting event to use Google Street View to provide participants with the ability to virtually cycle the routes before event day. Street View will also give OCBC Cycle Singapore supporters an opportunity to find vantage points and see what the cyclists will tackle in March next year.”

Patrick Grove, Executive Chairman, iProperty.com Group said, "We welcome the opportunity to incorporate Street View on our website with the potential of providing a whole new approach for property search in Singapore for our users. Street View could benefit users in selecting the relevant properties to visit by providing detailed visual insights of the surrounding public transport, malls and other amenities. In short, the online property search process becomes less time-consuming, more informative, more efficient and most importantly resulting in smarter decisions made for your dream home."

PropertyGuru's Co-founder and Director Steve Melhuish said, “We are looking forward to having Street View on www.PropertyGuru.com.sg as it offers our users a new and unique way to view the location of properties and save time in their search. It's an amazing tool that will allow our users to see each property and its surroundings and help them get a real feel for the area without having to physically be there. For those who are looking around to buy or rent a home in Singapore, the search just got easier!"

The winner of the Street View Trike online vote is...

Google and STB also announced the winners of the online poll in which the Singapore public voted for the best tourist attractions to be photographed by the Street View trike. Google received thousands of suggestions and votes over the past month and the top winner in each of the four voting categories are: Chinatown, Pagoda Street and Mosque Street for 'Cultural Areas'; the Southern Ridge, Henderson Wave Bridge, Hort Park and Kent Ridge for 'Hidden Gems'; Sentosa's beaches and trails for 'Natural Wonders'; and the Quays (Robertson, Clarke, Boat) and the Fullerton for 'The City'.

And the top spot goes to... Sentosa, Asia's favourite playground, which received the most number of votes to be hailed as Singapore's most popular tourist attraction! These top voted locations will get a visit from the trike first while it is here in Singapore. The images it collects will later appear in Street View to help millions of Google users in Singapore and all over the world get a special view of some of Singapore's famous attractions and inspire them to visit the attractions for themselves.

Privacy features built into Street View
Google has also gone to great lengths to safeguard privacy while allowing all Singaporean users to benefit from Street View. Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads and features technology that blurs both faces and licence plates. In addition, any user can easily flag images for removal that he or she considers inappropriate by clicking on "Report a problem". Google has consulted extensively with many privacy and community groups around the world in developing these privacy features and safeguards.

Teaser: another Google media event

2009-12-01T00:52:00.008+08:00

Hot from the launch of Google Maps with traffic and transit information (a world's first!), Google is holding another media event this Wednesday on 2 December 2009.

Hi Daniel!

You've been waiting to see it all year. We've saved the best for last.

Join Google at the Singapore Arts House on Wednesday, 2 December at 10.30am. Please RSVP to (info removed) by Monday, 30 November 2009.

Cheers!

As you can see, the media invite for this round offers scant information of what Google has up its sleeves. Perhaps they meant to tease. Or perhaps the earlier media invite offered too much information and the early leak by bloggers (not me!) makes the official launch sounds like a whimper? Anyway, I politely asked for some hints, and they offered "think 360 degrees".

What's your guess? My take is Google is launching Street View for Singapore. For those who are not familiar, it is a tool that integrates with Google Maps and provides 360 degree photographic view of the location. See it in action here.

In fact, Street View for Singapore has been all over the news lately -- from the spotting of Google Street View in late 2008 to the launch of Google Trike in Singapore in Nov 2009 and the related publicity of voting for your favourite places for Google Trike to visit. It seems ripe that the product is ready for launch after a year or so of preparation.

So what has this got to do with land transport? Plenty! Imagine you use Google Maps to search for public transport direction to a place you're not familiar with. You wish you could identify landmarks so you could know when to get off. Google Street View offers just that -- allows you to view your destination in full 360 degree panaromic view.

What's your take? Shout out in the comments below. As a special gesture to thank you readers, the closest guess will walk away with a Google Wave invitation (no joke!). Closing date: 2 December 8:00am.

Note: This post contains speculative information of a future unknown event.

Google Transit comes to Singapore... finally

2009-11-22T20:52:00.007+08:00

After years of courtship between Google and local transport partners, Google has courted and wed LTA successfully.

In a non-monogamous wedding registration at Dhoby Ghaut MRT, Google and LTA publicly declared their love for each other by pledging to share their much coveted prized possessions with each other. LTA will provide Google with raw data of car traffic speed and bus and MRT lines, while Google will take the raw data and (through third party) transform them into a human readable and interactive public transport journey planner. Much akin to a barter trade, both come together to create a product that will revolutionaries how Singaporeans travel in future.

Video Source: Google Maps

This product may be exciting, but it still falls short of what other cities are already doing -- suggesting journeys based on actual bus schedules. To clarify, LTA does not have the departure times of buses -- such data lies with the public transport operators (SBS Transit and SMRT). As such, LTA can only supply Google with a range of bus frequencies for Google's estimation (e.g. buses depart every 7 mins), rather than the actual scheduled bus arrivals at bus stops (buses depart at 12:43pm, 12:50pm, 12:57pm etc). It is a good start nevertheless.

To the guys in Gothere, you guys have been doing a great job so far. It's a pity LTA chose to support a global giant rather than you guys. Continue to buck up and stay ahead of the game. Cheers.

LTA and Google collaborate to help travelers
get to their destinations around Singapore faster and easier
Singapore is the first country in the world to launch a comprehensive range and nation-wide coverage of land travel planning tools, from walking to public transit to traffic, on Google Maps

Singapore, November 19, 2009 - With a daily public transport ridership of 6 million travelling by buses, taxi and trains; and more than 870,000 other vehicles on the roads in Singapore, commuters and motorists can now better plan their trips on Google Maps through a unique collaboration between Google and Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA). Mapping, directions and route planning for various forms of land transport modes - from buses to trains to cars to even by walking - are now all available for free on Google Maps. Transit and traffic information are also available on mobile devices with Google Maps for Mobile, so commuters and motorists can check the latest updates to make route changes on-the-go.

Singapore is the first country in the world to provide this comprehensive range and nation-wide coverage of land transport options on Google's global online map platform. Today at the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, LTA's Chief Executive, Mr Yam Ah Mee, and Google's Geospatial Technologist, Mr Ed Parsons, launched this new service at maps.google.com.sg/transport.

Under this collaborative effort, LTA provided key transit and traffic information such as live traffic feeds and public bus/MRT routes and schedules. Google combined the high quality of LTA's transit data, and worked with Quantum Inventions, a Singapore company, to integrate traffic data, on the popular and familiar user interface of Google Maps. The integration of LTA's information on Google Maps complements existing LTA and third-party travel planning tools for commuters.

Whether a private car owner switching to go by bus or MRT, or a public transit rider choosing to drive or take a taxi, or even one of 10 million international visitors each year finding their way around, the Singapore public can now check all of their land transport options to make an informed decision on the quickest, most convenient route and method to reach their destinations. For example, each time a Google Maps user requests driving directions, the user will be given the opportunity to plan the same trip using public transit - a useful option when the driving route is highlighted as red or experiencing heavy congestion.

"In line with LTA's vision for a people-centred public transport system, we have launched several initiatives to help commuters better manage their travel time, transfers, and make more informed transport decisions. Recent initiatives include PublicTransport@SG which has received good responses of 679,000 average page views monthly," said Mr Yam Ah Mee, Chief Executive, LTA. "The collaboration with Google is another step in this direction to make it even easier for the public to plan their trips with transit and traffic information on Google Maps, whether travelling to their nearest shopping mall or across the island to their favourite eating joint."

"Google's goal is to bring LTA's accurate, comprehensive land transport information together on a global mapping platform for easy access, search and use on PCs and mobile phones by millions of Singaporeans and Google Maps users around the world," said Mr Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist, Google. "Google Maps seeks to provide users with tools to help them explore the world around them and working with LTA to improve the daily lives of Singaporeans is an example of how Google can partner with government agencies to serve the public on a national scale."

Mapplets increase usefulness of Google Maps

Mapplets are useful mini-applications developed by third parties that can be added directly on to Google Maps Singapore. With just a single click of the mouse, users can customize their Google Maps by adding useful tools created just for Singapore.

The three highlighted mapplets on the left navigation panel on maps.google.com.sg are incidents, ERP locations/rates, and cycle routes (from National Parks Board). The incidents mapplet is based on LTA data and displays real-time traffic incidents, constructions, and road closures island-wide. If the traffic looks sluggish, you can find out what is causing it by clicking on the pin to get additional details such as when and where the incident happened.

Other Singapore mapplets can be found in the My Maps directory including petrol station finder, carpark finder, highway cameras and more.

Factsheets:

Public Transit Routes in Singapore
Current Traffic Conditions in Singapore on Google Map
Public Transport@SG Mobile
Source: LTA, 19 Nov 2009

Drive safely

2009-09-23T00:19:00.000+08:00

Psst... need help to get around on International Car Free Day?

2009-09-21T10:34:00.005+08:00

International Car Free Day falls on 22 Sep. If you're thinking of ditching your car for just one day, help is on the way.

Help #1: SBS Transit gives out free travel coupons to car drivers. If you're one of the lucky chaps who receive the travel coupon, congrats!

Riding on a bus instead of a car reduces your carbon footprint by 67%. If you travel by train, your carbon footprint reduces by 91%. Train is far greener, so it's a pity the travel coupon only entitles you to one free bus ride.

You can choose to use the coupon on a feeder bus ride to the nearest MRT station. Or, if you prefer a transfer free point-to-point travel, board a direct bus service then.

Now, when did you last ride on public transport? The following are a few good gauge:

4 months ago: If you're not bombarded with Phua Chu Kang's rap "A Happy Journey Starts Like That".
9 months ago: If you're not aware that the west terminating point of MRT network is no longer Boon Lay station or you find the word 'Joo Koon' alien.
3 years ago: If you haven't ride a wheelchair accessible bus.
5 years ago: If you're not sick of the phrase 拜六礼拜会不会开 -- referring to Jack Neo's movie advertisement blasting at MRT stations .
6 years ago: If you're not aware there's a new purple line on the MRT network.
7 years ago: If you're still holding on to the magnetic fare card issued by TransitLink and don't own an ez-link card.

Help #2: A myriad of tools are available to plan your public transport trip. Visit Public Transport Journey Planner, Gothere, iris Journey Planner, StreetDB Public Transport Guide etc etc.

If you're overwhelmed, just fall back on the first two tools listed. They give quick and reliable guide for one-off journey. However, if the tools fail to propose sensible options, or you need a human being to verify the results, or if you need to chain a few trips together, refer to help #3.

Help #3: Drop us an email. We'll help you plan your trip for the day, for free!

SBS Transit to Give Away Travel Coupons to Car Drivers in Celebration of International Car Free Day
SBS Transit is hoping to encourage car drivers to leave their cars at home for a day by giving them free travel vouchers.

The move is held in honour of International Car Free Day which falls on 22 September 2009. The complimentary bus travel vouchers, which come bearing environmentally friendly tips, will be distributed to drivers at the Ang Mo Kio Hub and HDB Hub carparks on Friday, 18 September 2009, at 12 noon.

SBS Transit Executive Director, Mr Gan Juay Kiat, said: “Last month, we tried to spread the Green message to our commuters by giving them earth friendly bags. This time, we are hoping to reach out to car owners, to get them to leave their cars at home for a day and take buses. It’s a small step that will go some way in our bid to save the environment.”

Mr Howard Shaw, Executive Director, Singapore Environment Council, concurred: “The SEC hopes to see more private car owners increase their use of the public transport system. They do not need to give up their cars. For example, they can drive to their offices in town and then take the bus or train to get to meetings around the area. Reductions in trips per week can in turn reduce carbon emissions.”

Background Information