October 2011

Celebrating the Circle Line

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2 Circle Line Fully Opens

4 Circle Line Discovery Party

8 Graciousness On Public Transport

10 Serangoon’s New Air-Conditioned Bus Interchange

11 New Cycling Path In Pasir Ris

12 Online Knowledge Sharing Tool Wins Award For LTA

13 Singapore’s Roads Are Safest In The World

Safer Roads With Black Spot Programme

14 Warrior Machines

15 Traffic News On Twitter

16 Circle Line Book

CONTENTS

Commuters all over Singapore raised a cheer on October 8 when the 28-station Circle Line was officially open.

The track - which wends from Dhoby Ghaut in the South and passes through the eastern, northern and western corridors before ending at the HarbourFront station - will see an estimated 400,000 users daily after six to nine months of operation.

It will also ease the crowds on the North-South and East-West lines by an estimated 10 to 15 percent.

There will be significant time savings all around. For instance, a commuter travelling from Bishan to Holland Village who usually takes 31 minutes by bus and train will now just take 14 minutes.

A total of six interchanges on the Circle Line will allow commuters to switch easily to other train lines.

The last 12 stations of the Circle Line were officially open on October 8, marking the completion of one of Singapore’s most ambitious engineering projects.

Circle Line Fully Opens

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This Circle Line station will give commuters more travel options since the area is always crowded. As I live in the west, using the Circle Line is a welcome relief.

- SiewSales Coordinator

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1 Guest-of-Honour, DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew, advisers from the constituencies around the Circle Line (CCL) and the senior management of LTA beat the drums to signify the full opening of the CCL.

2 Grassroot members mingle with DPM at the event.

3 The commemorative Circle Line book was also launched at the event. Representatives from the 12 constituencies each receive a book on stage.

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It is very obvious that everyone is very happy because (with the Circle Line) we use our cars less and it is very convenient.

- Mr Chan Chee KeongChuan Park MCST Chairman PBM

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Circle Line Discovery Party

When former GE 2011 Returning Officer Yam Ah Mee strode onto the stage at the Buona Vista Circle Line MRT station, the audience erupted in cheers.

The People’s Association chief executive director was the guest star in a special musical “Celebrate Life on the Circle Line” by celebrities Irene Ang, Chua Enlai and Alaric Tay about the Circle Line, which showed the actors getting off at every station and exploring the area.

Not only did Mr Yam – who is the former chief executive of the LTA – act, he also sang and danced the bhangra to the audience’s delight.

The 40-minute item was a highlight of the CCL Discovery event on October 2, which threw open the doors of the 12 newest stations of the Circle Line to members of the public.

Over 148,000 commuters thronged the stations to check them out and get a free ride. Some commuters had turned up so they could see how long they took to travel from one station to another. Many came away pleased.

Six stations - Buona Vista, Holland Village, Botanic Gardens, Kent Ridge, Telok Blangah and HarbourFront – offered activities and entertainment like sand painting, jewellery making, kampong games, giant Jenga, Lila drumming and origami folding.

More than 148,000 commuters thronged the 12 new stations of the Circle Line a week before its official opening to explore, enjoy and be entertained!

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During the Circle Line Discovery on 2 October, we set up a Graciousness Photo Pledge booth at Kent Ridge station for visitors to tell us how they will be gracious on public transport. Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, Chairman of Public Transport Council Gerard Ee and People’s Association Chief Executive Director Yam Ah Mee also penned their reflections on graciousness on public transport.

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Graciousness On Public Transport

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1-2 Designed to provide barrier-free access, the new Serangoon Bus Interchange is fitted with lower counters and dedicated boarding points for the convenience of commuters in wheelchair.

The latest bus interchange to undergo a makeover is Serangoon.

Now an integrated transport hub, people who are getting on or off the Serangoon MRT station or transferring to a bus, can do so in air-conditioned comfort, shave minutes off their walking time and even do some shopping at the hub itself or at the attached Nex mall.

The $18.8 million development, which took three years to build, is designed with barrier-free accessibility features for those who are wheelchair-bound.

The new integrated transport hub at Serangoon is the latest to join similar hubs at Ang Mo Kio, Boon Lay, Sengkang and Toa Payoh.

Serangoon’s New Air-Conditioned Bus Interchange

The new bus interchange will give commuters easy and direct access to the MRT station and nex. This makes it easier for them to run errands or grab a bite before continuing with their journey.”

- Mr Chan Kwok CheongLTA’s Director for Public Transport Promotion and Services

It is at the nexus of the Circle and North-East Line, as Serangoon MRT sits on both lines.

Such integrated transport hubs are coming up in Bedok, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Hougang Central, Joo Koon, Jurong East, Marina South and Yishun.

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1 DPM Teo Chee Hean with LTA Chief Executive Chew Hock Yong launching the Pasir Ris Cycling Path

2 Double-tier bicycle racks available in Pasir Ris

People living in Pasir Ris can now cycle on a safe cycling path from their homes to the Pasir Ris MRT station and bus interchange.

The 1.1 km dedicated cycling path is part of a plan to create a larger 13.3 km cycling network in the town in 2012. About seven in 10 people in Pasir Ris, which is famous as a cycling town, ride on a bicycle to get around.

Pasir Ris is one of the seven HDB towns under the National Cycling Plan to facilitate intra-town cycling to transport nodes and key local amenities.

The $43-million plan covers Pasir Ris, Sembawang, Tampines, Taman Jurong, Yishun, Changi-Simei and Bedok.

New Cycling Path In Pasir Ris

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With the completion of the new cycling paths, it will benefit residents in Pasir Ris Town as cyclists and pedestrians can now share the footpath and the cycling path safely as they are now clearly demarcated. We encourage all residents to be gracious and give way to one another as it will help to foster a culture of graciousness among Pasir Ris residents.

- Mr Alvin YeoBBM Chairman for the Citizens’ Consultative Committee for Pasir Ris West.

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1 From Left: LTA Deputy Manager, Application Services 1 Ng Chin Kong, LTA Group Director, Rail (Circle and Downtown Lines) Sim Wee Meng, LTA Group Director, Innovation & Infocomm Technology Rosina Howe-Teo and LTA Deputy Director, Application Services 1 Lem Kiah Chen.

In the planning and construction of a rail line, tons of drawings, blueprints, contracts and many other documents have to be circulated, shared and commented upon by all the people involved.

Every comment - from planners, engineers, architects, surveyors and management - has to be properly recorded.

How can this be achieved without printing out hard copies and filing them all into thick files?

The LTA’s solution: An online knowledge management portal called the Engineering Project Integration and Collaboration System, EPIC for short.

EPIC is a sharing platform which allows the relevant people to collaborate and consult. It is also a “green” initiative because it saves paper.

In fact, those working on the final stretch of the Circle Line from Marymount to HarbourFront used EPIC to efficiently capture, analyse and disseminate voluminous engineering drawings, supporting documents and construction blueprints electronically.

EPIC is so effective it has won the LTA the prestigious MIS Asia IT Excellence Award for Best Knowledge Management, one of Asia’s most prestigious information technology management award competitions.

The LTA beat Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation and locally-based Standard Chartered Bank to win the award. It is the third MIS Asia win for LTA, after winning the Best Business Enabler and Best IT Security Strategy in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

The LTA wins one of Asia’s most prestigious information technology management awards with its Engineering Project Integration and Collaboration System.

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Online Knowledge Sharing Tool Wins Award For LTA

EPIC is critical in supporting LTA’s core business in the planning, design and construction of engineering projects. It is a unique application of Information and Communications Technology to facilitate collaboration, consultation and knowledge sharing across multi-disciplinary engineering teams. In doing so, we have also developed an enterprise repository of engineering knowledge for LTA’s next generation of engineers and project managers for large-scale engineering works.

- Mrs Rosina Howe-TeoGroup Director Innovation & Infocomm Technology

The EPIC provides a very comprehensive workflow that allows my engineers to conduct online reviews of engineering design proposals and this has reduced the turnaround time of each review cycle significantly. It also minimizes the need for the printing of drawings and saves paper, thus promoting a more sustainable green environment.

- Mr Sim Wee MengGroup Director Rail (Circle & Downtown Lines)

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1 LTA Head, Road Safety Engineering Ho Seng Tim and LTA Deputy Director, Community Partnership (North West) Saifulbahri Bin Rasno receiving the award from HRH Prince Michael of Kent.

2 An example of a black spot treatment at Merchant Road into Centre Expressway (AYE). Painting of road speed limit on pavement to remind motorists to keep within the road speed limit and delineating the bends with waveline for better visibility.

Singapore’s Roads Are Safest In The World

An in te rnat i ona l eng inee r i ng organization has judged that Singapore has the safest and best-designed roads in the world.

On 15 August, LTA representatives flew to St Louis, Missouri in America, to receive the Edmund R. Ricker Transportation Safety Council Award, at the annual Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) awards ceremony.

The Institute is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals founded in 1930 with members from more than 90 countries.

Past winners of the award include the World Bank and city administrations

in America and Australia for their efforts in promoting road safety.

Only one award is given out in the individual and organisation categories each year.

The Black Spot Programme is one of LTA’s road safety initiatives and is a recommended best practice in Road Safety Engineering. It systematically identifies and treat accident-prone locations, and the implementation of specific road engineering solutions to minimise accident risk at targeted locations.

Following implementation, the area will be monitored for at least 3 years to measure the effectiveness of the schemes implemented under the Black Spot Programme.

Safer Roads With Black Spot Programme

Keeping our roads safe is a key tenet in ensuring a smooth travelling experience for our road users. We are honoured to receive the award as it recognises our efforts in ensuring that our roads are safe, both in its design and management.

- Dr Chin Kian KeongGroup Director Road Operations and Community Partnership

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BEFORE AFTER

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Did you know that the giant three-storey-high machines which drill through the underground MRT tunnels are given special names?

And the four Tunnel Boring Machines which went into action at the Newton Downtown Line 2 station on 4 October were given very special names indeed: 诸葛亮, 关羽, 刘备 and 张飞.

This is the first time these machines have been given Chinese names.

Many of the suggestions came from boys from the ACS (Junior) and ACS (Barker Road) schools, who were invited to name the machines as their schools were in the area.

Warrior Machines

1,3 Primary and secondary students enthusiastically put in their favourite name for the TBMs.

2 Playing dress up as young engineers.

4 Tunnel Boring Machine, 刘备.

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During the roadshow organized by the LTA at the schools, the students also learnt more about the construction process and site safety.

The winning names were inspired by the characteristics of warriors.

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Traffic News On Twitter

Drivers who try to catch those all-important radio traffic announcements about highway accidents or traffic jams should know this: LTA’s Traffic News is now on Twitter.

By following @LTAsg on Twitter, Twitter users can get traffic news on your Twitter timelines via your computer as well as the Twitter applications on your smart phones.

Launched in April 2010, LTA’s Twitter page also broadcasts news releases and road announcements from LTA.

Sign up on LTA’s Twitter page at: http://www.twitter.com/LTAsg

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Circle Line BookMany of us already use the Circle Line. But did you know that the Circle Line is one of the most challenging infrastructural projects in Singapore’s history?

Not only is it supported by the world’s largest underground depot, the entire line is underground with driver-less trains.

To document some of the exciting moments, sweat, blood and tears which went into its construction, a book, “The Circle Line: Linking all Lines” has been published.

The book tells the story of the men and women who built it. It will describe the important milestones, history, challenges faced and award-winning CCL stations in the 28-station network.

It is good to have the book as a record of the project and a memento to look back on. I also enjoyed the first chapter recanting the early history of the MRT in Singapore. The CCL project endured a number of significant challenges and has left LTA stronger for it.

- Mr Eric HamiltonAdvisor/Consultant Contracts for Rail (Circle & Downtown Lines), LTA

Youcangetacopyof theCircleLineCommemorativeBookat theLandTransportGalleryfor$45.ProceedsfromthebookwillgotoLTACaresFund.

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