WHY WON'T LTA COME CLEAN ABOUT CRITERIA USED TO IMPLEMENT "GREEN MAN PLUS" FOR TRAFFIC JUNCTIONS?

In November 2015, the WP candidate who lost in MacPherson SMC, Bernard Chen,
wrote a letter to LTA, seeking to improve traffic safety in the estate which
has a lot of elderly residents. Improving road safety by increasing the
"Green Man" duration on roads with heavy traffic matters a lot in an estate
with a lot of elderly.

Here is the text of his letter:

"Presently, there are three sets of traffic light crossings along Circuit
Road and the “Green Man” timing for these crossings in normal
circumstances range from 20 seconds for the crossing in front of (i) Block 35
Circuit Road (“Circuit Road PC near Balam Road”) and (ii) Block 43,
Circuit Road (“Circuit Road PC near Blk 79”) and 18 seconds at (iii)
traffic light 01 and 02, 03 and 04, 05 and 06 at the junction of Circuit Road
and Merpati Road (“Circuit Road / Merpati Road”) respectively.

I am glad to note that the Green Man+ scheme has been implemented at the
three sets of traffic light crossing at the aforementioned locations.

In light of the above, I wrote to the Land Transport Authority for their
assistance to provide an update on (a)(i) whether there are any plans to
maintain and upkeep the Green Man+ devices to ensure its continued
reliability, and (a)(ii) to extend the duration of the additional green-man
time beyond the average timing of six seconds at the said locations, (b)
whether there are any plans to extend the Green Plan+ scheme in the vicinity
of MacPherson MRT, Pipit Road, Geylang East, Aljunied Crescent and Aljunied
Avenue 1-5. Additionally, (c) are there any plans to reduce the speed limit
of vehicles along roads with high pedestrian traffic, such as Balam Road,
Circuit Road and Pipit Road.

I hope they will consider my queries and implement the suggestions above.
Let's work together with the relevant authorities, and the local grassroots
to ensure a safer community for both pedestrians and motorists alike in
MacPherson SMC."

Source for this letter:
https://www.facebook.com/chenjiaxibernard/posts/535531499935209

Yesterday, on 9th of December, LTA responded to WP member Bernard Chen. Here
is the response, as described by Bernard Chen:

"Specific to my queries on 17 November 2015, the Land Transport Authority
provided the following replies to each of my specific query on 2 December
2015:

a)(i) The GM Plus devices undergo regular maintenance to ensure its continued
reliability. For any system fault on the GM Plus, our backend system will
first detect the fault and the contractor will be activated to rectify the
fault in the shortest possible time.

a)ii) The GM Plus timing is set based on what the typical elderly finds
comfortable, this can be (and has been) adjusted to give more green time if
the situation justifies for it.

b)(ii) We will be implementing the GM Plus at more locations in MacPherson
area as requested by the MacPherson Grassroots Organisations.

c) For roads with high pedestrian traffic, there are usually pedestrian
crossings, such as zebra crossing and traffic light crossing, at strategic
locations to assist pedestrians to cross the road safely. Besides assisting
pedestrians to cross the road, these pedestrian crossings also help to
break/regulate traffic speeds of the road. There are a number of pedestrian
crossings along Circuit Road at present and we had also regulated the lane
widths at certain portions of the road to discourage speeding.

In response to b)(ii), I sought the following clarification: "Under what
circumstances/ situation would your good office adjust (increase or decrease)
the timing of the Green Man under the GM Plus scheme? Please advise. Thank
you." I have yet to receive a reply from them on this clarification."

Source for this update:
https://www.facebook.com/chenjiaxibernard/posts/542291742592518

However, LTA did not respond to Bernard's question on how LTA decides to
adjust the "Green Man" duration of the traffic lights to suit the elderly
pedestrians. What factors are involved in the decision to increase or
decrease the "Green Man" duration to suit the elderly? What circumstances are
considered? There is still no transparency in LTA's modus operandi. LTA's
response is at best a standard reply to taichi away the seriousness of the
issue. The traffic light especially the Block 35 one is a death trap, has
injured and killed quite a few pedestrians and motorists before there.

Till today, LTA only gives standard replies when people raise this important
issue of traffic safety in MacPherson SMC. This is despite requests from
residents, the elected MP Tin Pei Ling and now the WP candidate who lost in
the recent GE. Why is LTA still not coming clean about their criteria for
determining which traffic lights will get the "Green Man" timing extended?

Gabriel
A.S.S. Contributor