Author: Kaecol
Abstract:
Residents of northern stations (stretch from Kranji to Khatib) with the need to go home from Clementi have always relied on the usual uni-directional (west-wards) method of interchanging from East-West Line to North-South Line at Jurong East station. With the opening of Circle Line, a possibility of decrease in time has been opened to such residents by interchanging from Buona Vista station instead. After comparison of time-efficiency using bi-directional methods, research is conclusive that this possibility is false (with the possible exception of Khatib station for 6-7pm), with approximate mid-point of Admiralty station having a 50 minutes travel time for Circle Line compared to the usual method.
Key Words:
Go, Home, In, 50, Minutes
1. Introduction
The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. This form of transport is commonly used by Singaporeans, especially those without private transport, rich parents (the previous two are closely related) and those that require travel of long distances. Residents of northern Singapore have been geographically discriminated against since the dawn of the history of Singapore, possibly due to the proximity to Malaysia. This is evident from the incredible difficulty in transportation to other parts of Singapore, where Clementi is a notable example, as the school of an important person is located there. Northern Singapore has 7 stations, consisting of, from west to east, Kranji, Marsiling, Woodlands, Admiralty, Sembawang, Yishun, and Khatib. These 7 stations are termed the Northern stations, or K-K stations (Kranji to Khatib). Subsequently, the dash in K-K stations has been removed to form KK stations, using the initials of an important person who lives in Admiralty, the mid-point of the 7 stations. As convention, studies on the KK stations have been widely focused in Admiralty.
Previous research spanning close to 5 years by Kaecol et.al have revealed that the average timing taken for a resident in Clementi to reach Admiralty is approximately 30 minutes. This is done by using the East-West Line (green line) towards the West, and then interchanging at Jurong East Station to the North-South Line (red line). This is inclusive of the waiting time interval for interchanging, which is approximately 3 minutes, and with the assumption that the MRT driver is not an idiot that screws up every once and then, lengthening travel time. With the complete opening of Circle Line at 8th October 2011, an alternative route has been inferred after extensive research (the author spent 10 seconds looking at the new MRT map). The alternative route using green line towards the East , then interchanging at Buona Vista Station to Circle Line (orange line) towards the north, then interchanging at Bishan Station to red line towards KK stations. With the availability of a new route, a preliminary test has been conducted to obtain the travelling time required of such a route. The observed results are presented in this paper.
2. Materials and Methods
Researcher was equipped with a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini phone running on Android for timing purposes. The application used was called Stopwatch and Timer, downloaded from the Android Market. The accuracy and precision of such a device is comparatively 243 times better than the commonly used iPhone, due to the customizability of Android. Researcher was also equipped with casual shoes bought from Malaysia. The shoes were not capable of running to restrict the researcher from sprinting to tweak the timing results.
The researcher was instructed to start the stopwatch upon entrance of MRT towards Pasir Ris/Changi Airport at Clementi. To ensure that the researcher began accurately on time, while not committing an illegal offence, the researcher made sure that he stood close to the MRT door and took a 0.8m stride into the MRT across the yellow line and platform gap while pressing the START button on the stopwatch synchronously. This required a lot of effort and difficulty, but the researcher is well-trained and extremely capable. Plus the receptive touch screen of such an Android device is flawless.
Researcher alighted at Buona Vista Station and walked towards the Circle Line. The speed of the walk was 5km/h, or 1 KRSNAPFA (Kevin's Running Speed for National Fitness Physical Award). Researcher waited for 3 minutes as the time interval during interchanging of trains for standardization purposes.
Researcher took Circle Line to Bishan Station. On a side note, Botanic Gardens Station to Caldecott Station takes forever, causing temporal psychological distraught to researcher. Researcher alighted at Bishan Station and walked at 1.2 KRSNAPFA because he realised he really needed to pee. Sadly, the interchange time interval still remained at 3 minutes. To avoid bursting of bladder and possible damage to the valuable researcher, researcher had to walk home from Admiralty at 1.9 KRSNAPFA, but that is beyond the scope of this research.
Researcher took red line towards Jurong East and alighted at Admiralty, the mid-point of the KK stations. Researcher had to perform the feat of synchronously pressing the button again upon arrival, but this time the challenge increased in difficulty level as now it was the STOP button instead, which is slightly positioned to the right of the phone. Nevertheless, the capable researcher managed to complete the task and timing was successfully recorded.
3. Results
The timing was recorded to be 50minutes. As this is a comparative study, the bar graph plot of the timing of both research groups are presented below.
The red plot shows the timing taken for the previous group using the conventional green line switch to red line, while the pink plot is the timing for the current research. The timing are 30min and 50min respectively. This indicates that using the alternative route of Circle Line is 20min longer. This is extremely ridiculous for people who need to pee urgently.
For people living at Khatib, it might be more worth it to take Circle Line during 6pm to 7pm peak hours, as the additional train from Jurong East might end in Yew Tee, which is before Khatib, while the additional train from Bishan ends at Yishun, which is after Khatib. Although this has not been thoroughly examined due to the lack of researchers residing in Khatib, but calls for future studies.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, residents of northern Singapore should REFRAIN FROM TAKING THE CIRCLE LINE.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank VJ for peer review of this paper before publication to the Journal of Titles are for Losers.
References
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