Any move to set aside some MRT cabins for women only would likely be hard to enforce and may not be the best use of train capacity, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said yesterday.
Responding to Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang (Aljunied GRC) and Dr Lily Neo (Tanjong Pagar GRC), he said the idea had been studied before.
"There are practical difficulties and challenges, such as how to and also how strictly to enforce the rule," he said. And it may lead to overcrowding in other cabins.
"From the experience that we had garnered from other systems, the women-only cabins are often utilised less, meaning that more commuters will have to crowd into the remaining cabins or they will simply have to wait for the next train."
Mr Low said cost inefficiency and under-utilisation of capacity should not dissuade the Government from pursuing the idea.
"How does that inefficiency cost compare to protecting women from being molested? Is the minister not concerned with the uptrend of molestations on public transport?" he asked.
"That comes to a fundamental question: What is the trade-off between maximising economic efficiency and commuter comfort and safety?"
But Mr Lui disagreed with how Mr Low framed the question. Commuters, especially at peak hours, want to board the first train they can, he said, adding: "It is not about maximising cost efficiency. It is about maximising the use of the capacity and space on board the trains. If we under-utilise the capacity, especially during the peak hours, then you will exacerbate the crowding problem."
He said surveys showed commuters ranked safety of the MRT system higher than any other attribute: "The situation in Singapore is very, very different from a number of other countries that may have no choice but to institute such a measure, even at the expense of inefficiency."
This article was first published on Mar 12, 2015.
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