Project Proposal Report (2nd draft)

An existing solution implemented by SG Bike to control “indiscriminate parking” is the use of Geostations. According to SG Bike (n.d.), this system utilizes a yellow box which will be drawn out as the virtual docking station. They stated that a small device will be located near the yellow box emitting a fixed range of signal that communicates  with the bikes. This system ensures that bikes are parked within the yellow box as not doing so will result in five continuous beeps from the bikes. Users will then be notified through mobile phone reminding them to park within the yellow box. SG Bike mentioned that the users must re-park the bicycle correctly within fifteen minutes to avoid the fine of a dollar that will be deducted from the user’s E-Wallet account. They also added that repeated offenders may face an increase in the penalty charges.

Project Proposal Report (1st draft)

Background

In year 2017, public bike-sharing platforms such as oBike, Ofobike and Mobike started to make its way to our lion city. Locals were considerably receptive to these newly introduced platforms as it enabled some to exercise on their way to work or to school and head anywhere they desire when public transport operators are closed. However, soon after the platforms were introduced, several problems arose. One of the problems included bad parking practices exhibited by users of the bikes, known as “indiscriminate parking”. Lim stated that indiscriminate parking had led to the bicycles becoming a public nuisance as it had obstructed the path of wheelchair and mobility aid users and often posed as an obstruction to pedestrians and drivers (Lim,2017). Channel News Asia published an article stating that even the Land Transport Authority (LTA) had to step in to resolve the problem of “indiscriminate parking” (Lim, 2017). He also stated a new framework had been introduced to push public-bike operators in ensuring their users park their bikes properly and at areas which pose no obstruction or danger to others.

Despite the efforts made by the authorities and bike-operators, measures that had been implemented have failed given that there are still cases of public-sharing bicycles not being parked at its designated parking areas which in turn makes it difficult for prospective users to locate the bike when he or she wishes to use it. Furthermore, based on our personal experiences, some of us face the problem of not being able to find the bicycle even though we have arrived at the location stated on the application’s GPS which indicates an available bike. This problem occurs when users bring the bicycle up to the level of their houses and lock it. Hence, the GPS may state an available bicycle at the block, however prospective users may not be able to find it as the bicycle is at an unknown level in the block.

We aim to resolve this bugging issue with a low cost yet feasible solution. We are proposing an add-on to every bike-sharing application whereby users would have to scan a unique QR code at the designated public parking area before locking their bike and ending their trip. There would be a window of 30 seconds for the user to scan the code located next to the designated public parking area and proceed to lock the bike. To ensure that users do not manipulate this function, the unique QR code is only valid if its location matches the exact location of the bike. This ensures that the user parks his or her bike in the marked out yellow parking boxes or at least near the designated parking areas. As a result, users would not be able to abuse their right to park anywhere causing obstruction and prevents inconsiderate users who would bring the bike up to their homes in HDB flats, claiming it for their own personal use. This would then allow prospective users to be able to locate the bikes easier as they would know where the usual designated parking areas are at and resolves the issue of “indiscriminate parking” providing peace and convenience for the community.

In conclusion, “indiscriminate parking” is a severe issue that needs to be resolved quickly for the safety and convenience of the public as well as to reduce losses of public-bike sharing operators. Thus, the additional QR code scanning function for parking proposed would be a quick and low-cost solution that builds on the existing features of the application resolving the pending issue.

Reader Response

In the article, “Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system.”, Lee (2015) states that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan thinks highly of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and suggested that local transportation sectors should use MTRC as a guideline for its “reliability standards”. According to MTRC and SMRT’s annual reports, as compared to Singapore, New York and London, Hong Kong’s subway system yields the highest “system’s farebox recover ratio”. The length of MTR’s railway surpasses SMRT’s by 59km and even though both faces the same amount of significant hold ups, the punctuality of SMRT trains is 3.9% lesser than MTR. MTRC invested a larger amount of their earnings on enhancing train systems and ensures that commuters enjoy a smooth ride by having a much higher inspection frequency than SMRT while being meticulous in examining the railway lines. MTRC aims to rectify any issues or faults that arises under two minutes with the introduction of the “Super Operations Control Centre” which oversees the entire railway system, resolving emergencies with their fast reaction.

Looking at the comparisons between Hong Kong’s MTRC and Singapore’s SMRT, there are many aspects which SMRT can learn from MTR and improve on. In particularly, SMRT should form a rapid response team, implement crowd control plans and training to improve efficiency during breakdowns.

In order for SMRT to swiftly solve breakdown faults and redirect commuters to travelling alternatives, staff need to be deployed as soon as possible to affected areas and carry out their assigned duties promptly. Although SMRT makes use of various real time monitoring systems, they have to recall staff from various departments and other stations to provide support at the affect stations through the command centre (Lee, 2017; see also SMRT, 2015). This takes time for their staff to assemble and relay instructions, hence delaying service recovery. According to the MTR Sustainability Report 2016, MTR formed multiple rapid response units with different specialisations such as the Infrastructure Maintenance Rapid Response Unit, Rolling Stock Rapid Response Unit and the Customer Service Support Team (CSST). Teams are deployed immediately when there are issues and perform their duties simultaneously so that train services can be resumed (MTR, 2016). Training and forming specialized teams will help prepare for future problems, respond faster to break downs and also build up an extensive chain of command to improve communication and efficiency.

Secondly, being able to redirect commuters to the shuttle bus services in an orderly manner to avoid confusion is also crucial in handling train disruptions so that commuters can continue on their journey and allow technical staff to conduct the necessary checks. Lee (2015) noted that MTR provides shuttle bus for commuters when needed. According to MTRC (n.d.), MTR has various crowd control measures which they execute correspondingly to the situation. They also make use of queue barriers and staff carrying sign boards to indicate shuttle bus queue lines so that commuters know where to queue for buses. In a recent news article, Ong (2017) stated that during the train delay, the SMRT shuttle bus services were lacking signage which caused confusion when queuing. From this, it is clear that SMRT needs to improve further on crowd controlling.

I believe that forming specialized teams will help SMRT prepare for future problems, respond faster to breakdowns and also build up an extensive chain of command to improve communication and efficiency, improving customer satisfaction.

Reference

Lee, Min Kok (2015, October 29). Dubbed 'the Best in Class': 6 Things about Hong Kong's MTR Rail System. Retrieved from

www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/dubbed-the-best-in-class-6-things-about-hong-kongs-mtr-rail-system.

Mass Transit Railway (2016). Sustainability Report 2016. Retrieved from

http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/corporate/sustainability/2016rpt/pdf/Customers.pdf

Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (2015, November 12). SMRT Maintenance Operation Centre Improving Rail Reliability. Retrieved from

http://blog.smrt.com.sg/smrt-maintenance-operation-centre-improving-rail-reliability/

Lee, Ling Wee (2017, April 7). All-of-SMRT Approach to keeping MRT Train Services Moving. Retrieved from

http://blog.smrt.com.sg/all-of-smrt-approach-to-keeping-mrt-train-services-moving/

Mass Transit Railway (n.d.). Understanding Our Crowd Management Measures. Retrieved from

http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/main/crowd_control.html

Ong, Justin (2017, August 19). 'Can't you use GPS?': A train delay, a bus ride gone south and a day to remember, retrieved from 
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/can-t-you-use-gps-a-train-delay-a-bus-ride-gone-south-and-a-day-9134672

Reader Response Draft 2

In the article, “Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system.”, Lee (2015) has stated that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, thought highly of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and suggested that local transportation sectors should use MTRC as a guideline for its “reliability standards”. Based on MTR’s and SMRT’s  annual reports, comparing Hong Kong to Singapore, New York and London, Hong Kong’s subway system yields the highest “system’s farebox recovery ratio”. Looking at both the MTR and SMRT’s railway systems, the length of MTR’s railway surpasses SMRT’s by 59km. The punctuality of SMRT trains is 3.9% lesser than MTR even though both countries face the same amount of significant hold ups. Looking at the expenditure of profits on enhancing train systems, MTR invested a larger amount of their earnings compared to SMRT. MTR also ensures that their passengers enjoy a safe and smooth ride by having much higher inspection frequency compared to SMRT and being meticulous in examining the railway lines. MTRC aims to rectify any issues or faults that arises under two minutes with the introduction of the “Super Operations Control Centre” which oversees the entire railway system, resolving emergencies with their fast reaction.

Looking at the comparisons between Hong Kong’s MTR and Singapore’s SMRT, there are many aspects which SMRT can learn from MTR and improve on. One of it is for SMRT to form a rapid response team, implement crowd control plans and training to improve efficiency during breakdowns.

In order for SMRT to swiftly solve breakdown faults and redirect commuters to travelling alternatives, staff need to be deployed as soon as possible to affected areas and carry out their assigned duties promptly. As mentioned in the MTR Sustainability Report 2016, MTR formed multiple rapid response units with different specialisations such as the Infrastructure Maintenance Rapid Response Unit, Rolling Stock Rapid Response Unit and the Customer Service Support Team (CSST). Teams are deployed immediately when there are issues and perform their duties simultaneously so that train services can be resumed. Although SMRT makes use of various real time monitoring systems, they have to recall staff from various departments and other stations to provide support at the affect stations through the command centre. This takes time for their staff to assemble and relay instructions, hence delaying service recovery. Training and forming specialized teams will help prepare for future problems, respond faster and also build up an extensive command tree to improve communication and efficiency.

Secondly, being able to redirect commuters to the shuttle bus services clearly in an orderly manner is also crucial in handling train disruptions so that they can continue on their journey and allow technical staff to conduct the necessary checks. In the article, “Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system.”, Lee (2015) noted that MTR provides shuttle bus for commuters when needed. In the article Understanding Our Crowd Management Measures, MTR stated various crowd control measures which they execute correspondingly to the situation. They also make use of queue barriers and staff carrying sign boards to indicate shuttle bus queue lines so that commuters know where to queue for buses. In the news article 'Can't you use GPS?': A train delay, a bus ride gone south and a day to remember, Ong (2017) stated that during the train delay, the SMRT shuttle bus services were lacking signage which caused confusion when queuing. From this, it is clear that SMRT needs to improve further on crowd controlling.

I believe that by forming specialized teams will help prepare for future problems, respond faster and also build up an extensive command tree to improve communication and efficiency, giving commuters quality service

Reference

Lee, Min Kok (2015, October 29). “Dubbed 'the Best in Class': 6 Things about Hong Kong's MTR Rail System.” The Straits Times, retrieved September 14, 2017, from

www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/dubbed-the-best-in-class-6-things-about-hong-kongs-mtr-rail-system.

Mass Transit Railway (2016). Sustainability Report 2016, retrieved from

http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/corporate/sustainability/2016rpt/pdf/Customers.pdf

Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (2015, November 12). SMRT Maintenance Operation Centre Improving Rail Reliability, retrieved from
http://blog.smrt.com.sg/smrt-maintenance-operation-centre-improving-rail-reliability/

Lee, Ling Wee (2017,April 7). All-of-SMRT Approach to keeping MRT Train Services Moving, retrieved from
http://blog.smrt.com.sg/all-of-smrt-approach-to-keeping-mrt-train-services-moving/

Mass Transit Railway (n.d.). Understanding Our Crowd Management Measures, retrieved September 17, 2017, from
http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/main/crowd_control.html

Ong, Justin (2017, August 19). 'Can't you use GPS?': A train delay, a bus ride gone south and a day to remember, retrieved September 18, 2017 from
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/can-t-you-use-gps-a-train-delay-a-bus-ride-gone-south-and-a-day-9134672