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The Ministry of National Development (MND) may try out different mechanised parking systems in housing estates by the end of the year to ease a mounting carpark crunch. No location has been identified yet, but the pilot tests of such systems are likely to be carried out in older HDB estates with space constraints, said MP Lee Bee Wah, who is chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for National Development. But before the pilot tests begin, the MND will work with the National Development GPC to conduct a study to assess the suitability of such systems, and to gather feedback. BACKGROUND STORY THE RATIONALE 'I would think solving the problems faced by residents is on a case-by-case basis. It doesn't mean residents go and vote to have a mechanised carpark system or not. Where there is a need, and there is no other cheaper option, then we would put in the mechanised parking system, should we find it suitable.' MP Lee Bee Wah, when asked if the process of deciding where to build mechanised carparks will be similar to that of lift upgrading Ms Lee was speaking to reporters on Thursday during a tour of a fully automated carpark in Club Street. MPs Penny Low and Gan Thiam Poh, who are both members of the GPC, were also present. National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, in a blog entry last month, had raised the possibility of building mechanised carparks in HDB estates to ease the parking crunch. The problem is especially acute in older housing estates because fewer residents owned cars then, and fewer parking spaces were planned. Other types of carparks may not be suitable for such estates because of space constraints in a built-up area. While mechanised parking is not new here, it is used mainly in commercial buildings like hospitals and condominiums. Some have questioned if such systems are suitable for residential estates. Acknowledging such concerns, Ms Lee said: 'Residents worry about reliability and the cost being passed back to them. It looks like it costs more, but as technology advances, and land becomes scarce, at one point it could become a viable solution.' Other concerns, she noted, include retrieval time and the reliability of such systems. But she stressed that mechanised parking is an option meant for older estates which have exhausted all other avenues to ease the parking problem. That is also why it is important to conduct a study of the various mechanised parking systems before coming to a decision, she added. The MPs on Thursday toured the fully automated carpark, known as M-Park@Club Street, which was built at a cost of $6 million. It uses a lift to transport cars to up to four levels and can house up to 140 vehicles at full capacity. A driver need only drive his vehicle into a car-lift and park it in the correct position. After pulling the handbrake and keying in a PIN number, the driver can leave the system to automatically park the car. To retrieve the car, a driver has to key in the PIN, and wait for about four minutes on average. For every 10 cars parked in a normal carpark, the mechanised system can park from 12 to 15 cars, said Mr Jeffrey Tan, division manager at MHE-Demag, which supplies the system. But in its four years of operation, the system has broken down about three times a month. The waiting time for drivers to retrieve their cars can also stretch from less than an hour, to three hours. Mr Tan attributed this to a variety of factors, such as mechanical faults of the moving parts, and a driver not positioning his car correctly. But he said: 'Educating and familiarising the users is a key factor in ensuring it runs smoothly. Once that's done, the incident rates will go down.' source: http://www.straitstimes.com/The-Big-Story/...ory_755139.html

Trials which could yield the next generation of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system are under way along Woodlands Avenue 12. Last year, four consortia - Kapsch TrafficCom, MHI Engine System Asia and NCS, ST Electronics (Info-Comm Systems) and IBM Singapore, and Watchdata Technologies and Beijing Watchdata System - had won the tender to develop technologies to replace the current gantry system in a timeframe of 18 months. The four consortia had also been allocated a seed fund of S$1 million each for the project and might include a satellite-tracking system. In response to queries, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that the System Evaluation Test (SET) had begun in May and "is a technological trial to help identify a technological solution most suited for Singapore". "Woodlands Avenue 12 is a suitable site to conduct on-road testing as it is a relatively straight road with high traffic volumes and a good mix of different vehicle types," said the LTA spokesperson. A visit to the site showed that four black-coloured cantilevers, which are about the height of lamp posts, have been erected along the road about 100m apart. A variety of surveillance cameras, reflectors and sensors were mounted on the vertical portions of the structures overhanging the road. The LTA said that the tests, which are expected to be completed "around the end of the year", will not cause disruption to other motorists. "At the end of the SET, LTA will assess the performance of the various solutions to determine whether an appropriate technological solution is available and can form the basis of a next generation ERP system," said the spokesperson. However, he added that as the project is in "very early stages", "the next generation ERP systems, if technically feasible, is still some years away." In Parliament earlier this year, Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo had said that it was too early to speculate when the next generation ERP system, or ERP 2, will be introduced, but added that the LTA would have to make sure that it can be reliably used for road pricing. Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1230268/1/.html

I would like to share with my experiences of being a car broker. As much bad press as car dealers have been made to receive, there are many car buyers who are also not any angels. I recently managed to broker two deals and boy, was it so different from 5 years ago. 1st customer: Customer was looking for a car to buy and I brought him to see both cars that were from direct owners and dealers. After testing so many cars (20 to be exact), he finally choose a car that he liked. This was where the headache came in: he offered 10k below the listed selling price of the car. This is to be expected as everyone wanted a good deal. We finally managed to come to an initial agreement of a discount of 4k below the selling price and was on the verge of signing the deal. At the last minute, my customer wanted another 6 months road tax on top of the 3 months still available on the car! it worked out to be another 600 for the road tax. Never mind, being so close to the deal, we also managed to agree to give a further discount of 500 which meant that the deal came out to be 4.5k lesser then the original listed price. The icing of the cake was that owner wanted us to make sure that the car interior is devoid of any scratches and worn parts. To me, this is a used car! No matter how much we do up, if the mark cant be removed we cant remove! 2nd customer: This customer is even better! He is looking for a conti car which has a dep around 10k and wants it to be in a super good condition ( accident free, low mileage, blah blah blah) I managed to find a car that he wanted with a very low mileage for a 3 year old car but the dep was about 13-14k. First question the customer asked was whether the odometer was tweaked since the mileage its unbelivably low. This really made me infuriated as I took so much time and effort to find a car that is in such a good condition for my customer. Also, he wanted to trade in his car and I gave him a price that was higher then the market rate. However, he told me he still wanted to get a higher price on his own. After encountering such issues, I told him off that if you want t get a deal which is out of the world, please get out of this world to get such a deal! And I also told my customer if he wants to get a conti car for a dep of 10k, I will go to the scrap yard and get a total loss car to restore it and sell him at a dep of 10k per year. To all bros and forummers here, car dealers and car brokers need to survive also. There is no such thing as a free lunch. No doubt there are many bad sheep in this industry, but when a sincere and hardworking car salesman or broker is helping you to source for the best deal, please do not assume that he is also out there to fleece a chunk of meat from you. Honestly speaking, will anybody who owns a car here is willing to sell their car at 10k below the retail price when you know that you can get a better amount? Sometimes, car buyers have to also look in the mirror to see and ask why they have gotten the bad end of the deal. * I am also a person who has bought cars and sold cars on a personal level. I believe that as long as the car is in a good condition, dont ask for more.*

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...y-road-tax.html By Sophie Borland Last updated at 12:50 PM on 18th August 2008 Pay-as-you-drive road taxes moved a step closer last night after the Government confirmed it was launching the first ever trials of the scheme. As part of several pilots taking place across Britain, cars will be fitted with black boxes on their dashboard which can be tracked by satellites allowing their exact movements to be monitored The Department of Transport said it is currently appointing companies to carry out these schemes. Members of the public will be invited to take part in the trials which are likely to occur some time between now and 2010. It is believed that the pilots will take place in about ten different parts of the country. A Department of Transport spokesman said no areas had been agreed yet by the companies charged to carry out the scheme. In most cases, the trials will involve a satellite tracking a vehicle's movements and motorists will then receive a monthly or weekly bill which will vary depending on when and where they drove. Up too 100 drivers in each area will voluntarily test the black box technology which will allow their movements to be tracked. New Labour has vacillated over starting a road pricing scheme which could see some drivers pay up to

Anyone been a labrat for them before? Me considering about going. Below are details I received from their email. They pay quit good and I really need money now. Anyone know any better way to make 3k in 2mths? ------------------------------------------------------------- Hello We are providing you with some study information to see if you or your friends are interested in participating in an upcoming research study at the Pfizer Clinical Research Unit (Singapore). If you or your friends wish to register or find out more about the study, please call the participant recruitment office at 6496-9888 or walk-in to PCRU, located at Level 10, Raffles Hospital. Vacancies for medical screening are limited and will be given on a first-come/call basis. Sincerely, Volunteer Recruitment Department Pfizer Clinical Research Unit (Singapore) www.PCRU.Pfizer.com Study A (Reimbursement for transportation & time inconvenience ~$4085) Males & Females aged 21- 55 years old Non , ex-smokers, smokers (<5 sticks/day) BMI : 17.5-30.5 kg/m2, Weighs more than 50kg Have not participated in other studies 30 days before study starts. No drug allergies -Consists of 4 periods: 4 days 3 nights stay, 2 outpatient visits plus 1 follow-up visit - Screening dates: Group 1: 11/8/08 (0800hrs or 12 noon) Group 2: 13/808 (12 noon) Group 1 Period 1: Admission (12noon): 20/8/08 (Wed) and stay till 23/8/08 (Sat) at 12 noon discharge Outpatient (Morning):24/8/08 (Sun) Outpatient (Morning):25/8/08 (Mon) Period 2: Admission (12noon): 27/8/08 (Wed) and stay till 30/8/08 (Sat) at 12 noon discharge Outpatient (Morning): 31/8/08 (Sun) Outpatient (Morning): 1/9/08 (Mon) Period 3: Admission (12noon): 7/9/08 (Sun) and stay till 10/9/08 (Wed) at 12 noon discharge Outpatient (Morning):11/9/08 (Thu) Outpatient (Morning):12/9/08 (Fri) Period 4: Admission (12noon): 14/9/08 (Sun) and stay till 17/9/08 (Wed) at 12 noon discharge Outpatient (Morning):18/9/08 (Thu) Outpatient (Morning):19/9/08 (Fri) Follow-up (4 Hrs): 22/9/08 (Mon)