If I am not mistaken, they are trying to solve Punggol's evolving transport crisis by adding more buses to serve Punggol residents commuting to the Central Business District/Raffles Place/Tanjong Pagar. Punggol residents have no direct MRT service to the Central Business District for decades, having to switch trains at Dhoby Ghaut, facing huge crowds and overcrowded trains during peak hours. Punggol roads are all very narrow, with traffic jams occurring since the mid-2010s in specific locations during morning peak hours.
This is already a problem in the making for some years, with the North-East line filled to the seams every morning, with commuters further down the line, in Sengkang, Buangkok, Hougang and Kovan stations finding difficulty in boarding trains during morning peak hours. With the Punggol Coast residential area filling up fast, the Punggol Digital District construction progressing and with the Singapore Insitute of Technology campus now functioning, the problem is now more acute than ever.
What will all these mean for residents of Punggol going forward? If the MRT cannot cope with the increasing population, workers and student movements, and the narrow roads cannot cope with the increasing traffic, most likely some will have to look for alternatives, like buying cars. And the Government will be laughing all the way to the bank as more COEs will be needed. Solving the escalating problem with more buses that contradicts the earlier option of cutting bus services fast and furious when the MRT first started operation seems a move too early and too fast.
The Transport portfolio is turning out to be the 'Graveyard of Ministers' judging from the current Transport Minister's candid but telling comments.
Anonymous
2 comments:
What's worse than crowded transport? It's NO transport !
In our residential area, there is no bus service at all on Sundays.
To buy food on weekends, have to drag our old tired feet over long distances to and fro.
Some areas in Punggol are served by only one bus. They tried to force commuters to use the LRT. However, if you live between LRT stations, the walk is quite tiring, and the trains are overcrowded during peak hours. My two kids live in Punggol, and I know the situation.
The thinking seems to be that by building many MRT lines and stations, the crowds will be dispersed island-wide and underground, and the situation will appear less critical. But for most, what is important is just the MRT line that gets them to work and back being less crowded, not meandering around the island switching trains.
The LTA will be releasing 20,000 more COEs in February 2025. Is this good news or bad? Good news for the Government undoubtedly, but bad news for those driving as more congestions and jams will be the result.
Ten million population they were gloating. Now at about six million and already we are finding it hard to breathe. I live in the North-East and I honestly hate travelling on the overcrowded MRT trains. I think the situation is the same with the North-South line that I have also used. And that must be the norm with all the other lines.
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