E ARGH PEE

Traffic congestion has long been a significant problem of all urbanized countries. This is evident especially during ‘rush hour’ which happens twice a day where people are commuting either to or from work. It is hard to avoid such phenomenon unless one lives and work at the same place. However, this is not to be.

Urbanization called for the spatial division between place of work, living and leisure. This took place even in the ancient city of Rome and transcended upon the design of any modern city. The spatial division was called on so as to organize the city better to enhance the efficiency of running the city by the authorities. Such idea is better known as gridding.

With gridding, the need for roads also took place. This would enhance commuting between places thus adding to the efficiency of running the city. The city has also been separated between sectors of residence, sectors for commerce, sector for industry etc. Obvious reason would be that air pollution caused by the factories would not affect the other sectors (residence for example) as they are often situated far from each other.

As a result, the need to commute became an increasingly big problem every day. Cities such as Bangkok often result in huge jams which could last for hour. Thus, workers eventually get to work late or if not, they would simply rise up early enough hoping to escape the perils of rush hour. Either way, the standard of living of the urbanites is largely affected because they are not able to enjoy the quality of life (lack of sleep) that urbanization had promised. They were also affected by the air pollution caused by the number of vehicles on the road.

Singapore is not excluded from this.. However, its government had taken measures to curb this issue. One of its foremost policies was to raise the prices of cars by increasing the taxes at an incredible sum. Thus, cars in Singapore were priced around 200% more than those found in other countries. In addition to that, drivers had to pay other fees such as pricey road. However, this didn’t work well as the standard of living of Singaporeans was constantly improving along with their spending power. Hence, such price obstacles were of little effect.

Thus, the government implemented the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system in September 1998 to further curb the jams that were mainly caused by vehicles going into the CBD[i]. This is a good policy in a sense that it actually deterred drivers from driving into the CBD thus eliminating the issue of a traffic jam every morning and evening. While so, it also fuelled of other social implications.

One of the social implications was that it actually created a system of class stratification. Because of it is expensive ($2.50, New Bridge Road gantry)[ii] especially during peak hours, it actually made the class division further to those who can drive (upper class) and those who couldn’t afford to (lower class).

In addition to that, many jobs were also affected. Delivery drivers and also despatch riders (not forgetting the taxi drivers) also had to content with this issue as well as they too had to travel into the CBD to make deliveries or pick up passengers(for taxi drivers). However, this only implicated a higher cost for the companies that they were worked for and often, these companies do not want to foot the bill of this new (annoying) contraception. Thus, their jobs were affected to.

While the Singapore government is constantly trying to come up with new ways to curb the traffic jams in Singapore, its policy had also affected the lives of many as well despite the fact that its main purpose was to improve the standard of living. However, with many drivers now opting to take public transport instead, it has actually caused massive human traffic jams in public transport(such as the MRT) as people are actually crammed in like a can of sardines. Thus, there isn’t much comfort in the process of commuting there.

The rush hour will continually be a problem that needs to be solved as this is one of the greatest bane that urbanization has ever contributed to society: the need to commute.

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[i] Electronic road pricing in Singapore Road & Transport Research,  Dec 1999  by Luk, J Y Khttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3927/is_/ai_n8875414

 [ii]http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/on_the_roads/ERP_Rates.html

Taxi!!!

Perhaps, one of the most interesting jobs that were “invented” out of urbanization is the taxi driver. Although it may seem insignificant, those who are in this line are as important to many of us as much as that of a doctor.

Urbanization brought the increase of commuting. In the agrarian societies, people just lived on their lands as most of the societies had subsistence farming as a source to provide them with their daily food needs. However, as industrialization loomed over, many flocked to the cities in search of the promise of better jobs in the factories. Population of the cities boomed and it only increased as the industrial revolution swept the world. This invented the ideology that projected a better standard of living for many. How? Well, the jobs in the factories ‘promised’ wages that the individual can use to obtain a better standard of living. Jobs in the cities were often seen as a method of upward social mobility.

Urbanization gave birth to both inter-city and intra-city commuting. It is much a common sight to see people travelling to and fro work in the morning and evening respectively. As observed in Singapore (this is also common in other cities in the world), people no longer lived at the place they work unlike those in the agrarian societies. Urbanization created a spatial distinction between places of work, the home and also places of leisure. Thus, commuting from one place to another became a large part of our daily lives.

Walking from one place to another (especially tens of kilometres each day) was too troublesome for anyone. This can be seen in ancient times where only the rich resided in the cities because they could afford horses and other modes of transportation if they needed to go somewhere. However, those who couldn’t, namely the poor, stayed on their lands and survived on subsistence farming only. Even if they did travel, they would walk.

This can be conceptualized into the modern concept through the observation that only the rich or well –off are able to afford cars for their own travelling means. However, those who couldn’t afford cars had to find alternative means of commuting. With the creating of spatial division, people had to travel from their home to their work place on a daily basis. The rickshaw (or bechak) was one of the earliest forms of taxi in Singapore. In fact, it also existed in since ancient times. Ancient cities such as China had the rickshaw while Venice had its gondola along with many others.

What prompted for the creation of such an occupation? Well, the need to commute within the cities itself. While it was viewed as a form of luxury to travel in one back then, nowadays, it is quite reasonably priced to travel I one back then. While in can be seen that travelling in one is one of great convenience, it is really a sign that people want to isolate themselves from the rest of society. People still take the taxi despite the fact that Singapore has one of the most excellent public transport systems in the world. Everywhere is within walking distance either from MRT stations or bus stops.

People who own cars too have their functions. The manifest function of it is for the convenience of commuting. On the other hand, its latent function is also to isolate themselves from the rest of the society whilst commuting (this can be observed widely today). The taxi is no different. In fact, it was on this very basis that more taxi companies sprung up recently as the demand for taxi increased. People no longer want to travel with others; they just want to do it comfortably in their own stride.