On Facebook

What sort of safety features should personal mobility devices (PMDs) have?

What have we become? Our legs can't do the walking? Technology that makes one lazy shouldn't be encouraged.

Ban it and you won't have all these questions about safety.

Bert Bc

The most fundamental is user education and behaviour. You can have all the fancy features but when users decide to make illegal modifications, ride across pedestrian crossings without stopping, beat red lights... conflict is inevitable.

Koichirou Jtan

It can be difficult to categorise these devices as they have diverse features and uses. An increasing number of PMDs have mechanical propulsion, and new design practices allow these to attain higher speeds. As a result, the potential for conflict against "non-motorised" facility users is growing.

It is, therefore, increasingly important for transport planners and public officials to decide how such facilities should be managed.

Sangha Vandana

No amount of safety features in PMDs is going to prevent accidents if riders do not exercise consideration for others. PMD users and pedestrians can coexist only if everyone keeps to his path and watches out for one another.

Wilkie Ong Keng Soon


Is surge pricing for taxis the way to go, or will it also lead to frustration for passengers?

Doing away with all surcharges is right. Return to distance and time pricing. Also no more different pricing for different cab companies. One price for all.

Loh Wai Poon

So easy to bash taxi drivers. Our rental was $105 a day; now it is $130 a day for a new cab. The diesel price has increased, with no adjustment to fares. Who bears the cost? Electronic Road Pricing gantries have increased in number and price... Who bears the cost?

James Teo

Taxi drivers should be bashing their companies for charging crazy rental fees, when Uber and Grab can charge half the rates. It is the taxi companies that are fleecing their own drivers.

Calvin Tham

Compare prices when booking. Have the Uber app, Grab app, and taxi app. See which is the cheapest at the moment, then take that ride.

Or use CheaprRides app. Don't get overcharged by paying surge- pricing, taxi-booking or midnight fees. Be a smart consumer.

Rudy RR

Taxi operators should do more for taxi drivers. Take care of them. Reduce the rentals... entice them with benefits... provide them with medical coverage... It would be a nice gesture if taxi operators were flexible on rentals, for a start, during public holidays. Many taxi drivers I spoke to felt that if the rental fees were waived or halved during festive seasons, it would boost their morale.

Muhamad Rafi Abu Bakar

Everyone seems to have forgotten that surcharges came about to incentivise cabbies to provide much-needed service at certain times and places.

Location and CBD surcharges were partly to induce cabbies to go into areas where they would otherwise avoid because of congestion or other inconveniences. Peak-hour and late-night surcharges were to encourage more of them to ply the streets.

Different fares were introduced to provide varying levels of comfort through different classes of vehicles.

Johnny Tan

If there is surge pricing for taxis, will taxi drivers still pick up customers by the road or at taxi stands? Most likely not. They will be hiding and waiting for a booking to earn the extras from surge pricing.

Darryl Kang

When the fares are presented to me upfront, I can decide which one I should take. It is a fair competitive system when you can decide how much you want to pay, and not a cartel .

Ng KiatKuan

Of all the things they could have copied from Uber, they copied the one thing all passengers hate. Surge pricing won't fill the gap... in terms of customer service and app user experience. I will avoid taxis even more.

Attilio Rapisarda


How can the authorities better help retirees who are asset-rich but cash poor?

Some retirees may not want to downgrade to a three-room HDB flat and would very much like an executive condo (EC), but they are not allowed to buy unless they sell their private property and wait three years.

If they are allowed to buy an EC first and then sell their private property, the difference can finance their sunset years. Banks can provide bridging loans between the buying of an EC and the selling of a private property.

Harry Chia

If their loans are cleared, that is one burden settled; it is when you still have an outstanding mortgage loan after you retire that is a problem. It is those who are not debt-free that cannot afford to retire.

Peter Tan

The lease buyback amount is so pathetic. Some elderly couples do not have any sense of money management. It would be good if the Government allows the retirees' children to park the cash in a joint account instead, so they can use the money for their parents' hospital or medical bills.

Lai Yin Lee

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 28, 2017, with the headline On Facebook. Subscribe