Recently Minister Lui announced that COE quota will be cut in order to control the car population and traffic conditions in Singapore. Political pundits will have a field day with the "I told you so" post-election prophecies coming true - everything will go up to fatten the Ah Gong coffers.
While that may not be the true intent, you really cannot expect people NOT to think that way. The whole issue comes down to one thing - poor urban planning.
I dare say our top-notch scholarly civil servants are a different breed from their predecessors - they somehow seem to lack the foresight and testicular courage of our founding fathers. I mean, come on! Yes, we understand we need that critical mass of 6 to 8 million in order for Singapore to be a competitive economy. But it doesn't mean you have to put every mother son down south!
Look at where the congestion centers around - Orchard, the CBD area, Jurong...the whole country practically wakes up in the morning to either travel south on CTE to town, or travel westwards on PIE to Jurong. I have a friend whose office is at Yishun, and he enjoys the light traffic along Lentor every morning, laughing to himself as the other side of the road is bumper to bumper. You just need one fender-bender to close off one lane and jam up traffic.
While the solutions Ah Gong have in mind is to improve public transport so that people will give up driving to work, the public transport system is also reaching max capacity, and it takes 5 years more more to build that infrastructure. Sunzi says it is all about timing - when the eagle soars, it times the descent exactly at the moment the prey is vulnerable to go for the kill. The current slew of traffic control and public transportation woes all points to one thing - either bear with it, or stay home.
What I'm trying to say is, we need to re-organise the way we work. Spread the business centres of gravity across the island, and with it the supporting amenities - and do it fast. There are quick ways to do this, simply by changing policies and rules, instead of building new roads and offices. For example, there are light industrial estates peppered along Woodlands/Sembawang, and some in the northern central areas like Thomson, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, and even in the East like Eunos, Bedok, Changi. These places are affordable, but it is just that it's not exactly an exciting place to work. Perhaps if Ah Gong can loosen up on some legislation and licensing, these can be lively business parks where people can work and play.
One of the limitations currently is that entertainment outlets like pubs have limited alcohol retail licence, as well as public entertainment restrictions. While those in town can operate way past 1 to 2 am, those in the suburbs can only do so until maybe 12.30 am or 1. Also, no live music is allowed, although karaoke is ok. There are also trade restrictions for certain zones. I was at Midview City recently and was told that only a certain number of F and B, retail, childcare and other non "light-industrial" trades are allowed to operate.
If Singapore is serious about easing transport woes, it should look into the problem from all angles. Why do people NOT want to set up shop outside of CBD, even though there are places and space available? The thing is - no one goes to work just to work. Work time is easily more than 50% of our "awake" time, and we want to make work part of our lives - work-life balance. All the amenities, entertainment and shops in an industrial, commercial zone provides the much needed psychological markers to help the days and weeks go by pleasantly. We don't need to all trot to town if we can get our fix near where we work.
This "quick fix" may not be a permanent solution, but it buys time for the permanent solutions like public transport infra to develop. Who knows? By the time people get used to having a drink after work at Woodlands Bizlink or chill out at Midview City at Sin Ming, peak hour road traffic may actually get redistributed...
