Reinventing Transport

Update:   I appeared on a panel discussion of this topic on the Talking Point program on Channel News Asia TV. The full video can be viewed HERE (for a few months I think). It is the 21 - 03 - 2012 episode . Singapore's Budget 2012 announced a large funding injection into the bus system. This has caused   much   debate . I felt the need to write something to explain that I see a wider importance in the announcement. The initial Government explanations have focused on the need to improve bus services while we wait for the MRT system to grow further.  But I think the funds should be used strategically to enable two important reforms. In fact, I suspect that this may be the intention, although it has not yet been clearly explained. So, with some trepidation (it has become a hot political issue since I started writing it), I submitted an Op Ed to the Straits Times. It appeared in the ST Review section on Thursday 1 March.  Subscribers to the Straits Ti...

Dave Brook's Carsharing.US blog has two recent posts that take stock of the continued rise of carsharing. The first is a review of carsharing in 2011 and the latest looks at predictions for 2012 . Both have an international perspective and are good reads for anyone with an interest in the reinvention of urban transport services. A few highlights from Dave's assessment of carsharing in 2011:  Are we seeing a demographic tipping point? — This was the year when the mainstream marketers admitted that many in Gen Y ("the Millennials") weren't thinking about cars the same way their parents were - they'd rather have their iPhone than a car. ... Parking is fundamental - Parking is a fundamental but often under appreciated aspect of car use. It wasn't until Donald Shoup layed the cards on the table in his landmark "The High Cost of Free Parking" that most of us realized just how fundamental parking really is. And carsharing operators also know ho...