Don't think you know it all, IDA
Before I am where I am, I actually went for an interview at IDA. The job posting on Recruit highlighted that the role was that of project management with no hint that one must be very technically sound. The 1st part of the interview was the standard essay questions (as for most government or civil service related jobs), which was relatively routine. The second part was an interview with the immediate supervisor. You can tell right away that this guy was a techincal nerd and he started firing me all the technical questions after 5 mins of pleasantries. I was dumbfounded half the time as I didn't expect the job to be techincally focused. I went there with the mindset that the job requires you to understand the technical jargon but it does not require you to exemplify it. And he gave me a "What is this guy doing here?" look. I then told him that: "Well, your recruiting advert clearly stated that you are looking for a Project Manager with no requirements in technical expertise mentioned at all. But it seems to me that you are looking for a Project Engineer instead since the job is so techincally focused." HR then apologised for the misrepresentation.
Notwithstanding this, the techincal interviewer continued with his assault and asked me one final question: "So what do you think of IDA's 10 year masterplan?" I told him that it is quite a well conceived plan, encompassing the Financial sector to Education. However, there's one area that is not covered, and that is Transport. I'm a public transport commuter and there's a problem that bugs us public transport users which private car owners like y'self wouldn't understand. When I'm at the bus-stop, it would be helpful to know when my bus is arriving. And I think this problem can be easily solved using the same GPS technology that the EZ-link tap reader incorporates. An information (LED-display) board can then be constructed at bus-stops to show the estimated arrival times of each bus.
The arrogant interviewer then told me that: "Do you know why it is not done right now, even though we have the technology? This is because it is not economically feasible for LTA to do so. How are they going to fund such a project? They might have to increase transport costs by a dollar if they want to implement something like that. This is why this transport scheme is not part of the Masterplan."
Well, I beg to differ. Looks like LTA and I share the same thoughts. I seriously think that if this short-sighted, arrogant guy continues to a Director at IDA, I don't see how Infocomm can ever take off in Singapore.
SINGAPORE : The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has rolled out a pilot project to provide real-time bus arrival information at selected bus stops. This is expected to take the guesswork out of waiting for a bus for commuters. Panels with LED displays will be set up at the bus stops. They will list bus service numbers, what time the next and subsequent buses will arrive, plus or minus three minutes, and whether they are wheelchair-friendly.
The panels will be progressively installed at 30 selected bus stops in the Orchard Road, Ang Mo Kio and Yishun areas, at a cost of just over a million dollars. For now, it is a pilot scheme for 6 months. Although the panels will be located at a fairly low level, LTA says they should be fairly tamper-proof as they are made up of strong tempered glass surrounded by stainless steel frames. Many commuters say they are all for it, if it works well. "Sometimes you don't know when the bus is going to arrive. Supposedly they say bus interval is about 15 minutes, but it can be delayed by up to half an hour or one hour, (especially) during traffic jams. So with these bus panels, I think it will be... useful," said one commuter.
"Sometimes I'm not sure if I'll be late for school. So if I know the bus is taking too long, I can take a cab straight away and won't waste too much time," said another. "But the thing is that - will they really come? If they say 5 minutes, will the bus really come? To me, it's the same - not much difference. I'm used to waiting already." This is not the first time the LTA has tried out such a system. In 2003, the LTA aborted a three-year-old venture with homegrown company Stratech for a bus commuter information system. But Transport Minister Raymond Lim said things are different now. He said: "The main difference is that technology has improved and cost has come down."
Mr Lim added that the authorities want feedback from commuters before they go any further. Still, even if the scheme works well, it will not be going island-wide. Mr Lim said: "Because it's not cost effective. There are 4,000 over bus stops. You might not want to put one in every single bus stop. You look at where are the major areas where there are high commuter traffic and you target them." Also introduced on a pilot level are Key Bus Services Maps which will be installed at 36 key bus stops around Orchard Road by end-August. Primarily meant to help tourists, they are pictorial representations of surrounding landmarks and how to get there using the nearest bus stops and MRT stations.
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