Curious... are our buses that good?
-
i saw on TV news today with amusement that SMRT is going green with buses.
i did some small research and found that singapore did not revise our low engine emission standards since euro 2 (am i right on this point? im not quite sure)
any bus depot we see in operation today is lined with engine soot. engine soot is a clear indication of poor engine combustion performance.
i will like to draw LTA/NEA to the attention,
1) what is the side effect of long term human exposure/ingestion of engine soot?
2) why are public transport engines emission standards so low? especially buses because ALL our bus depots are black lined with soot, it cannot be the work of only 1 broken bus missing maintenance.
3) what measures are in place to ensure the public is not harmed by these poorly maintained vehicles?
4) who are the balance and check bodies that will keep this in motion?
5) which governmental check is in place to ensure that SMRT DO NOT acquire vehicles with lousy engines and who is the balance and check for that? THEY are indirectly spending public funds are they not?
6) the interior condition of buses are lined with cobwebs and air vents lined with black soot, indication of lack of maintenance for at least 3 months.
7) because this is something that affects millions locally, how can this be accountable to the public? and who is the balance and check entity to ring the bell and watch for public interests?
is my questions interesting? anyone care to plus minus add divide ... etc feel free
-
Minimum emission standards for diesel-powered vehicles is Euro IV since Oct 2006.
http://app.lta.gov.sg/corp_new_content.asp?start=51
"The National Environment Agency (NEA) will implement the Euro IV emission standard for all new diesel vehicles registered from 1 October 2006.
Diesel vehicles registered before 1 October 2006 are not affected by the new emission standard. There is also no change to the emission standard for non-diesel vehicles." -
Anyway, have you heard of annual inspection for vehicles by LTA, which checks for exhaust smoke amongst other things?
The black stuffs accumulated in air-conditioning vents are not soot, but dust! That's the reason all air-conditioners (vehicle or building it's the same) come with a purifier to remove dust brought in from outside the bus to minimise the dust from finding its way to the air-con duct, hence ensuring that the vents do not turn dusty for 6 months to a year. For your information, soot will not find its way into the aircon duct through the engine compartment!
It is a fact that diesel engines on a similar rating as a petrol-powered engine is less environmentally-friendly, and hence the diesel tax. However, it is impossible & uneconomical to produce engines powerful enough to propel a bus by using petrol. I'm sure you're not insisting that transporting a busload of people by car is more environmentally friendly and efficient?
-
of coz they are gd lah..
-
We may not have the best public transport network (compare: hong kong), but at least our buses are well maintained and perform well.
-
Originally posted by ^tamago^:
Anyway, have you heard of annual inspection for vehicles by LTA, which checks for exhaust smoke amongst other things?
The black stuffs accumulated in air-conditioning vents are not soot, but dust! That's the reason all air-conditioners (vehicle or building it's the same) come with a purifier to remove dust brought in from outside the bus to minimise the dust from finding its way to the air-con duct, hence ensuring that the vents do not turn dusty for 6 months to a year. For your information, soot will not find its way into the aircon duct through the engine compartment!
It is a fact that diesel engines on a similar rating as a petrol-powered engine is less environmentally-friendly, and hence the diesel tax. However, it is impossible & uneconomical to produce engines powerful enough to propel a bus by using petrol. I'm sure you're not insisting that transporting a busload of people by car is more environmentally friendly and efficient?
Diesel engines tend to produce less pollution relative to their petrol counterparts. Also, diesel is more fuel-efficient than petrol, since diesel has more energy stored within the fuel. -
Originally posted by SBS9622Y:
Diesel engines tend to produce less pollution relative to their petrol counterparts. Also, diesel is more fuel-efficient than petrol, since diesel has more energy stored within the fuel.then what's stopping the Government from letting everyone own diesel-powered Sonata's etc?
-
Originally posted by SBS9622Y:
Diesel engines tend to produce less pollution relative to their petrol counterparts. Also, diesel is more fuel-efficient than petrol, since diesel has more energy stored within the fuel.
Diesel produces more soot than petrol. -
Originally posted by ^tamago^:
then what's stopping the Government from letting everyone own diesel-powered Sonata's etc?
They are not stopping anyone. You can own 1, and pay diesel tax.
-
Basically if you want diesel, you just pay.