Cash incentive for off-peak travel effective?
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SINGAPORE: Dangling carrots such as discounts or rewards to get more train commuters to travel during off peak hours are unlikely to be effective.
Instead, observers say more concrete steps that can directly reduce crowds are needed.
They added they want the government to make a stronger push for flexible working hours.
Getting on the train can be a squeeze during the morning peak period, typically from 7.30am to 8.30am.
A six-month study is under way, to find out if incentives will nudge some commuters to modify their travel patterns and help ease the congestion on trains.
If commuters travel between the 6.30am -7.30am and 8.30am-9.30am periods on weekdays, they will earn credits which can be redeemed for prizes or money credited to their EZ-link card.
The study was launched on 10 January and as of last Friday, some 3,000 of the 20,000 commuters have signed up.
Some other commuters said they would not mind taking part.
One said: "If it has an direct impact on the travel charges, I would".
Another said: "I don't mind changing my travel hours."
But for most, old habits die hard.
"I won't, because even if it is very packed, I will just go on with it. What can it be? What can the reward be, seriously?" asked one commuter.
Added another: "It defeats the purpose, why should I wake up one or two hours earlier, just to save 10-20 cents? I still can squeeze into the MRT because sleep is more important."
Just last October, SMRT tripled the discount to 30 cents that it gives to commuters who exit from designated stations within the city area before 7.45am.
SMRT said it is still monitoring the take-up rate, adding it typically takes six to nine months to stabilise.
Observers say such incentives do not address the larger issue of managing travel demand.
Freelance transport consultant Tham Chen Munn said: "We have to look at the bigger picture, look at employers, or even the culture. Can we accept flexible working hours?"
"They should spend the money on education, come up with a campaign to... highlight the time savings or how much it helps the economy."
National University of Singapore Department of Civil Engineering Associate Professor Lee Der-Horng said: "If the flexible working hours-- the difference is only 30 minutes, 40 minutes -- the effect will be very marginal."
"In many overseas examples, the so-called flexible working hours in a day, they just need to have two to three core hours... , which means all the employees in the company should be in the office; other than that, they have 100 per cent freedom. But in Singapore there can be an impact to business culture."
Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport member Ang Wei Neng said: "The more permanent solution is really that the government service, or even schools stagger their opening hours so that they can spread the load and not everyone will need to reach office by 8.30 or 9.00am.
"Certainly, there are also other associated issues related to staggering hours but we need to try.
"We have not systematically staggered the working or starting operating hours for different government agencies as well as private companies, so we might want to start small and try out in some region that will see whether the results will be positive or otherwise.)"
Since the recent study was launched, similar calls were made by those who gave their views on the government's feedback portal, Reach.
Observers acknowledged it may be difficult to effect a change in the mindsets of commuters and companies, but felt if more thought is given to this, it could just work in easing Singapore's transportation woes.
- CNA/wk -
There is no such thing as non peak period in sg.
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silly, shows that the people top decision making ones in SMRT is still very bodoh!
peak hours people need to go to work, standard hours be it 8-5 or shifts! they should know better to research into the working hours of singaporeans and also the estimated time before for them to travel on trains!
unless you give them a few hour dollars incentives, so they no need to be late for work mayb will be effective
the root casue is still sg has too many redundant cheap labor lah
that's why during peak working hours very crowded