Tuesday, February 12, 2008
THE Minister of Communications warned yesterday that if the trend of increasing car ownership continues, contributing to worsening traffic congestion, the Government may seriously consider regulations to curb it.
Speaking at the opening meeting of the Motor Transport Licensing Authority 2008-2010 yesterday morning, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong revealed the current ratio of cars to people.
"With the high standard of living that we are blessed with in this country, and the reasonable prices of cars, we (Brunei) currently have a ratio of 1:2, one car for every two residents," said Pehin Dato Haji Awang Abu Bakar.
He added that the increasing number of cars on existing roads in Brunei Darussalam may see a trend resulting in congested roads.
"When that takes place, there is the likelihood of specific regulations being introduced to prevent vehicles entering certain areas at particular times of the day."
In that respect the Minister placed great emphasis towards taking note of what is needed to improve the current state of public transportation in Brunei.
Although widely practiced in other countries, albeit in a variety of ways, it opens the door to the widely debated subject of congestion charging.
In nearby Singapore, the ERP or Electronic Road Pricing has long been put into effect, and is an electronic system of road pricing based on a pay-as-you-use principle.
Even though it has been designed to be a fair system it still has received its fair share of criticisms.
The first road pricing scheme, was actually introduced in Singapore in 1975 and London's Congestion Charge which had been launched in 2003 had used the Singapore system as a point of reference.
In a bid to tackle the situation yesterday's meeting saw the Ministry of Communication highlight the ministry's vision of creating a transport and communication industry, one that continuously develops in line with making Brunei Darussalam a competitive and efficient hub within BIMP Eaga.
As such the the Motor Transport Licensing Authority has set out to contribute towards a land transport system that is effective, sustainable and inline with efficient licensing of public transportation.
The Minister hopes that the authority also takes into account the aspects of development and growth of the nation alongside the day-to-day activities of permit and franchise applications.
The Minister also stated that the Motor Transport Licensing Authority had been put in place in order to assist the Land Transport Department and the Ministry of Communications in carrying out the initiatives with vision and mission of the Ministry kept firmly in perspective.
The Brunei Times
Speaking at the opening meeting of the Motor Transport Licensing Authority 2008-2010 yesterday morning, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong revealed the current ratio of cars to people.
"With the high standard of living that we are blessed with in this country, and the reasonable prices of cars, we (Brunei) currently have a ratio of 1:2, one car for every two residents," said Pehin Dato Haji Awang Abu Bakar.
He added that the increasing number of cars on existing roads in Brunei Darussalam may see a trend resulting in congested roads.
"When that takes place, there is the likelihood of specific regulations being introduced to prevent vehicles entering certain areas at particular times of the day."
In that respect the Minister placed great emphasis towards taking note of what is needed to improve the current state of public transportation in Brunei.
Although widely practiced in other countries, albeit in a variety of ways, it opens the door to the widely debated subject of congestion charging.
In nearby Singapore, the ERP or Electronic Road Pricing has long been put into effect, and is an electronic system of road pricing based on a pay-as-you-use principle.
Even though it has been designed to be a fair system it still has received its fair share of criticisms.
The first road pricing scheme, was actually introduced in Singapore in 1975 and London's Congestion Charge which had been launched in 2003 had used the Singapore system as a point of reference.
In a bid to tackle the situation yesterday's meeting saw the Ministry of Communication highlight the ministry's vision of creating a transport and communication industry, one that continuously develops in line with making Brunei Darussalam a competitive and efficient hub within BIMP Eaga.
As such the the Motor Transport Licensing Authority has set out to contribute towards a land transport system that is effective, sustainable and inline with efficient licensing of public transportation.
The Minister hopes that the authority also takes into account the aspects of development and growth of the nation alongside the day-to-day activities of permit and franchise applications.
The Minister also stated that the Motor Transport Licensing Authority had been put in place in order to assist the Land Transport Department and the Ministry of Communications in carrying out the initiatives with vision and mission of the Ministry kept firmly in perspective.
The Brunei Times