CHINA  STRADDLING  BUS

The STRADDLING BUS that could fix China’s traffic woes

HONG KONG

Try designing a vehicle that takes up no road space. And make it partly solar- powered.

A company in the southern Chinese town of Shenzhen has done just that. To address the country’s problems with traffic and air quality, Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment has developed a decidedly odd-looking, extra-wide and extra-tall vehicle that can carry up to 1,200 passengers.

Though it is dubbed the “straddling bus” (picture), Huashi’s invention resembles a train in many respects, but it requires neither elevated tracks nor extensive tunnelling. Its passenger compartment spans the width of two traffic lanes and sits high above the road surface, thanks to a pair of fence-like stilts that leave the road clear for ordinary cars to pass underneath.

It runs along a fixed route.

Huashi’s outsize invention, 6m wide, is to be powered by a combination of municipal electricity and solar power derived from panels mounted on the roofs of the vehicles and at bus stops.

A pilot project for the vehicle is in the works in Beijing and several other Chinese cities have shown interest.

The company says the vehicle, which will travel at an average speed of 40km an hour, could reduce traffic jams by 25 per cent to 30 per cent on main routes.

The Straddling Bus could replace up to 40 conventional buses, potentially saving the 860 tonnes of fuel that 40 buses would consume annually and preventing 2,640 tonnes of carbon emissions, said Mr Youzhou Song, the vehicle’s designer.

The cost of construction — 50 million yuan ($10 million) for one bus and about 40.2km of route facilities — is roughly one-tenth what it costs to build a subway of the same length, he said.— What do you do if your roads are congested and polluted?

THE NEW YORK TIMES

sOmehOw  sOmebOdy  DON'T  WANT  ?

Testing and Certification tO ensure  a high level of integrity and fairness in the Transport industry ?

Today is still a Good Day to Buy SMRT.

Trading at $2.07.

Good luck to all.

Counting the sum, not the parts, for new MRT lines

Neo Chai Chin

chaichin@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE

Not anymore.

Under a new rail financing framework passed in Parliament yesterday, lines in “less mature corridors with low ridership” could be built if they benefit the rest of the network.

The removal of individual line viability as a criterion comes at a time when new lines are being tucked underground, costing more to operate and maintain.

“(They) will fulfil the viability criteria when evaluated on an overall network basis”,

Second Transport Minister Lim Hwee Hua said yesterday. This applies to all new lines not already announced.

In the nearer term, commuters can expect greater “contestability” among rail operators as the licence period will be cut by about half, to 15 years.

The Land Transport Authority will also take over ownership of operating assets of the Downtown Line and lines that open after it. Before this, public transport operators had to buy the assets, such as trains and signalling systems, from LTA. But with shorter licence periods, LTA will instead collect a licence charge from the train operators.

The charges will go to a Railway Sinking Fund.

Responding to questions from the House, Mrs Lim said London and Melbourne have similarly short licence periods.

Operators bid for annual contract payments to the government for profitable lines and for subsidies for loss-making lines.

Train fares will be unaffected, she said, as they continue to be regulated by the Public Transport Council based on the current fare formula.— If you live in an area with low human traffic, the prospect of an MRT line would have been a pipe dream.

The LTA will examine factors such as available travel alternatives; overall journey times; fare implications; and the special needs of the elderly and the disabled.

Leong Wee Keat

Despite the fare bumps ...

Leong Wee Keat

weekeat@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE

The Public Transport Council examined 24 million journeys made in one week last month and found 68 per cent of commuters — above the 63 per cent originally projected — had enjoyed average weekly savings. In fact, distance-based fares will cost public transport operators $88 million a year in revenue, Mr Lim pointed out.

Said Mr Lim: “This may indicate some commuters have already started to optimise their journeys by taking advantage of the flexibility under distance fares to choose less circuitous routes to their destinations  [ORIGINALLY, there was NO CIRCUITOUS  ROUTES ? ? ? ?].”

Seniors and students have benefited. Three in four students enjoyed fare savings, more than the seven in 10 earlier projected.

Still, six Members of Parliament asked during the half-hour debate if distance fares could be made even fairer [made nOt UNfair ? ? ? ?].

Sembawang GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak said commuters were “at the shorter end of the stick” when errors occur in calculating distance-based fares and suggested the refund process be made less onerous.

“With the smart card system, can this be done automatically?” he asked.

Errors were found in the distance data for 13 bus stop pairs due to ground changes such as road diversions. As at Aug 9, TransitLink had refunded 38 claims — amounting to 10 cents on average — through the telephone, Internet or at its ticketing offices.

“I don’t think it’s onerous,” the Minister said.  [WHAT about REFUND  TIME  consideration ? ? ? ?]

Another issue was the inclusion of transfers and waiting time in the distance fare calculation for train journeys.

Hong Kah GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad asked if there were other fare considerations.

Mr Lim said the train network was unable to track a commuter’s route, so the PTC’s “working assumption” is that commuters find the fastest way to get to their destination.

But wouldn’t that unfairly penalise seniors for being less mobile and savvy?

Tampines GRC MP Irene Ng asked.

Mr Lim responded that it was “not the intention” of distance fares to penalise the less mobile. “Distance fares don’t force us to make transfers in order to benefit.

“Instead, distance fares allow us to choose the best way [REALLY ?] to get to our destination without worrying about paying extra [ALREADY PAYING EXTRA EVEN WITHOUT CHOICE ? ? ? ?] if we take a transfer,” he said.

While some commuters have had to pay higher fares due to the change, Mr Lim noted that PTC chairman Gerard Ee had said it was not possible to benefit “100 per cent of commuters”.

“The outcome of any judgment would involve some seeing immediate benefits and others paying more in this transition to a better and fairer fare system,” Mr Lim said.— There may have been bumps, but the new public transport fare structure is the right direction, Transport Minister Raymond Lim told Parliament yesterday as he cited various statistics.

New structure is the right direction [HOW ? ? ? ?]  [WALK MORE ?  WAIT MORE ?  PAY MORE ?], says Transport Minister

WHATEVER ? ? ? ?

LEAVE THE FARES  ALONE  ? ? ? ?

LEAVE  THE  MONEY  ALONE ? ? ? ?

The way forward to help seniors who cannot afford transport costs is “through a more direct and targeted way”, such as the ComCare fund, said Mr Lim.

Neo Chai Chin

Sorry poor linking

I relink the SMRT chart here

Fare aid for CCK elderly