Commuting

Alot of people laugh at the idea of the Off-Peak Car scheme in Singapore but I beg to differ.

In 2006, my dad bought a car for my family's usage. And yes, it has a Off-Peak Car plate. What does that mean? Off-peak cars are allow to be on the road from

Monday to Fri: 1900hrs - 0700hrs (the following day) AND
Sat 1500hrs to the following Monday 0700hrs.

Some people call this the weekend car. Not really. Notice that every weekday evening, you can get on the road. I had good memories of having a car to get to church on Wednesday nite, to the park connector or Seletar Reservior for evening jogs, countless supper at Jalan Kayu or Chong Pang Nasi Lemak, to pick up Zach from his place. You see, the city is very very much alive after 7pm. Unless you are one of those guys who NEED to be a home to catch some TV series.

How about getting to work? I don't need a car, I've got my Kah (my legs in hokkien) My camp is about 8km away and so I cycle to work and back almost everyday even on a rainy day. Once I get to camp, I can get a shower before I change to my work attire.

Singapore has fantastic and cheap public transport. In Chilliwack, the bus comes every 1 hours, sometimes 1.5hrs. And the bus fare is 1.50CAD (2.50SGD). Bus operate from 0720hrs to 2200hrs, Mondays to Sat. 0930hrs -1800hrs on Sunday. No operation on public holidays (about 10 of them). Oh ya, they are not in operation on days if it snows heavily, I don't know how they qualify for heavy snow.

Fares are even higher in Vancouver. Starting from 2.50CAD, it gets as expensive as 5CAD depending on timing and distance. 5CAD can purchase petrol equivalent to 50km for a salon car. Aiyo, the fare doesn't make sense for a commuter to choose public transport over a privately own car. However, the tagline for the public transports says: " I am part of the solution". I'm assuming they are referring the solution of pollution and global warming. But can they make the solution cheaper?