Technical Report Draft 1

This proposal has been developed in response to the request for proposals on developing solutions to an engineering problem.

Water demand in Singapore uses approximately 430 million gallons a day. 45% of water usage is consumed by the domestic sector and the non-domestic sector takes up the rest. Singapore’s water supply is obtained from four water sources known as the Four National Taps. The Four National Taps consist of local water catchment, NEWater, desalinated water and Malaysia imported water. Local water catchment, NEWater and desalinated water contribute 40% of the water source, while Malaysia imported water contributes 60% of the water source. These water sources has helped with meeting the increase in water demand. According to Public Utilities Board (PUB) (2018), Singapore’s water demand is expected to double by 2060, with the non-domestic sector using about 70%. With the increase in demand of water usage, water prices are expected to increase gradually. Therefore, to keep up with the water demand in Singapore, planning and implementation of water saving strategy is required.

The geographical location of Singapore is located near the equator which results in higher precipitation. Based on figure 1, Singapore’s rainfall intensity is increasing over the years.

Figure 1: Annual Rainfall Total in Singapore (1980 - 2017)

As Singapore has high rainfall intensity, the practice of stormwater management is essential. Stormwater management is the control of surface runoff. As Singapore becomes more urbanised, there will be an exponential increase in surface runoff. Urban Redevelopment Authority states that the projected distribution by 2030, about 79% of the land in Singapore will be filled with infrastructure (Urban Redevelopment Authority, 2010).

Due to rapid urbanization in Singapore, more high rise buildings and infrastructure were being built which leads to the increase of surface runoff on rooftops. Therefore the implementation of rainwater harvesting on rooftop is regarded as a prefered method in Singapore context.

An ideal forward-looking campus should adopt implementation of rainwater harvesting on rooftop so as to be self sustainable and reduce dependency on external water sources. Nevertheless, rainwater harvesting has not been implemented in the new SIT@punggol. Without the implementation of rainwater harvesting, the reliance on using external water sources will increase the incurred cost of water. Having the SIT@Punggol campus planning committee adopt rainwater harvesting process, external water usage will be reduced and the campus would be self-sustained with the water supply.

The purpose of this report is to propose that the planning committee of SIT@Punggol campus to adopt rainwater harvesting on rooftop of the new campus to reduce the usage of water from external source so as to be self-sustainable. 

Reader response draft 3

In the Singapore Ministry of Transport (MOT) website(2018) on Driverless Vehicles: A Vision for Singapore’s Transport, MOT states that it has been investing in the research on Autonomous Vehicle(AV) such as the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS), which consists of renowned specialists that forge the strategic direction for AV. MOT also mentions that it already has existed technology in Singapore such as Singapore Rail Lines, driverless buggies and autonomous shuttle buses. MOT has done various efforts on AV such as introducing a test course for AV on public roads within One-North under real traffic conditions. Furthermore, MOT envisions AV to be the highlight of town-planning by providing connectivity between neighborhoods. In the MOT website, LTA further suggested that by enabling car-sharing, AV could potentially become a common transport which could scale down the number of vehicles on the road by a third which, LTA believe AV will forge a future of us depend on it.

Although the MOT mentions various benefits of AV, the website fails to discuss the impacts of AV and the reliability of AV.

One impact MOT did not mention was how AV will impact the society when AV is fully implemented. According to MOT(2018), MOT did not consider the "what if" scenario of the public negative views towards AV that could lead to the failure of AV. This is supported based on Cheah (2017) "If cities do not achieve the targeted shifts to public transport use, despite the introduction of this new travel mode, the postulated benefits may not be fully realized." This meant that MOT vision on AV will not be realized without the public support. Cheah (2017) further stated, "And for car owners, many of whom have families to ferry around, will it be easy enough to hail a robo-taxi, such that they give up their cars?" This further implies that MOT vision will increase the difficulty for the public to own a private car. This will cause public outrage as it is already difficult to own a car in Singapore. MOT could have done some form of statistical analysis before executing any form of AV movement in Singapore.

Another Impact MOT failed to discuss was the economic impact on AV in the future. MOT (2018) mention they had planned for the public to commute daily by AV rather than using a human operator in the future. This shows that MOT did not elaborate that AV could have caused an economic distress in which, AV could cause a shortage of job in the transportation and car industry. This point is further enforced by a case study by Tomita (2017) as he states, "transportation companies suffering from a serious labor shortage – such as long-haul truck operators and home delivery service providers – will introduce autonomous driving services, thereby enabling them to change their business models drastically." Additionally, Nesnow (2018) state a similar point "The auto insurance industry as we know it will go away (as will the significant investing power of the major players of this industry). Most car companies will go out of business, as will most of their enormous supplier networks." what MOT should have done is to not go full scale with the AV movement until the economic impact is solved.

Apart from impacts, MOT did not mention the setbacks AV had in Singapore. According to MOT(2018), MOT gave various examples of existing AV technology in Singapore such as the North-East and Downtown MRT lines, and LRT. However, MOT did not mention its failure in keeping its rail system reliable. This is supported by The Straits Times (2018)"Ms Tammy Tan, SBS Transit's senior vice-president of corporate communications, told The Straits Times that the train "developed a fault which affected train services on the NEL for about an hour" from about 7.30am." Additionally, another example of AV technology in Singapore given by MOT was the One-North public road test. Same goes to public road test, the AV was involved in an accident. This is quoted by Faris (2018) "In Singapore, there has been at least one known accident at one-north involving a lorry and a nuTonomy driverless taxi in October 2016. This forced a short suspension of the trial." If MOT had disclosed AV safety issue to the public beforehand, it could have minimized the damage caused by AV.

In conclusion, MOT omitted significant information on AV to win public opinion on AV. However, AV might find its place in a distant future when the problems are solved.

Reference :

MOT, Singapore. (2018). Driverless vehicles: A vision for Singapore’s transport. Retrieved 2018, from https://www.mot.gov.sg/transport-matters/motoring/Detail/driverless-vehicles-a-vision-for-singapore-s-transport/

Cheah, L. (2017). Commentary: Driverless vehicles can reshape Singapore, but do consider the human elements. Retrieved December 01, 2017, from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/commentary-driverless-vehicles-reshape-singapore-smart-nation-9451258

Tomita, H. (2017). Potential economic and social effects of driverless cars. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from https://voxeu.org/article/potential-economic-and-social-effects-driverless-cars

Nesnow, G. (2018). 73 Mind-Blowing Implications of a Driverless Future. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from https://medium.com/@DonotInnovate/73-mind-blowing-implications-of-a-driverless-future-58d23d1f338d

The Straits Times. (2018). North East Line hit by delays during morning rush hour due to faulty train at Little India. Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/train-fault-causes-delays-on-north-east-line-during-morning-peak

Faris, M. (2018). The Future of Work: No more bad drivers? Making self-driving cars smarter than humans. Retrieved July 05, 2018, from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/future-work-no-more-bad-drivers-making-self-driving-cars-smarter-humans

Reader response draft 2

In the Singapore Ministry of Transport (MOT) website(2018) on Driverless Vehicles: A Vision for Singapore’s Transport, MOT states that it has been investing on the research on Autonomous Vehicle(AV). It started with the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS), which consists of renowned specialists that forge the strategic direction for AV. MOT also mentions that it has already had existing AV technology in Singapore in a form of Singapore Rail Lines, driverless buggies and autonomous shuttle bus. MOT has had also done various efforts on AV such as introducing a test course for AV on public roads within One-North under real traffic condition. Furthermore, MOT envisions AV to be the highlight of town-planning by providing connectivity between neighborhoods. In the MOT website, LTA further suggested that by enabling car-sharing, AV could potentially become a common transport which could scale down the number of vehicles on the road by a third. Which, they believe AV will forge a future of us depend on it.

Although the MOT mentions various benefits of AV, the website fails to discuss the impacts of AV and the reliability of AV using present technology.

First of all, MOT did not mention how AV will impact the society when AV is fully implemented. Based on the MOT Singapore – Driverless vehicles: A vision for Singapore’s transport. (2018), the benefits of AV were based on an assumption of positive reaction from the public. In which, will lead to the failure of AV. This is further supported based on a website from Channel News Asia, Cheah, L. (2017, December 01) "If cities do not achieve the targeted shifts to public transport use, despite the introduction of this new travel mode, the postulated benefits may not be fully realized." This meant that MOT vision on AV will not be realized without the public support. Cheah, L. (2017, December 01) further stated, "And for car owners, many of whom have families to ferry around, will it be easy enough to hail a robo-taxi, such that they give up their cars?" This further implies that MOT vision will increase the difficulty for the public to own a private car. MOT could have done some form of statistical analysis before executing any form of AV movement in Singapore.

Secondly, MOT failed to discuss the economic impact on AV in the future. Based on the MOT Singapore – Driverless vehicles: A vision for Singapore’s transport. (2018), MOT mention they had planned for the public to commute daily by AV rather than using a human operator in the future. This shows that MOT did not elaborate that AV could have caused an economic distress in which will lead to a shortage of job in the transportation and car industry. This point is further enforced by a case study by Hideaki, T. (2017, December 17) as he states, "transportation companies suffering from a serious labor shortage – such as long-haul truck operators and home delivery service providers – will introduce autonomous driving services, thereby enabling them to change their business models drastically." Additionally, Nesnow, G. (2018, February 09) state a similar point "The auto insurance industry as we know it will go away (as will the significant investing power of the major players of this industry). Most car companies will go out of business, as will most of their enormous supplier networks." what MOT should have done is to not go full scale with the AV movement until the economic impact is solved.

Lastly, MOT did not mention the setback AV had in Singapore. Based on MOT Singapore – Driverless vehicles: A vision for Singapore’s transport. (2018), MOT gave various examples of existing AV technology in Singapore. One of them was the North-East and Downtown MRT lines, and LRT. However, MOT did not mention its failure on keeping it rail system reliable. This is supported by a website on Channel news Asia, MRT collision at Joo Koon station: A timeline of events. (2017, November 16) states, "6.30pm: LTA and SMRT held a press conference and explained how a signaling software glitch caused the accident." Additionally, another example of AV technology in Singapore given by MOT was the One-North public road test. Same goes to public road test, the AV was involved in an accident. This is quoted by Mohktar, F. (2018, July 05) "In Singapore, there has been at least one known accident at one-north involving a lorry and a nuTonomy driverless taxi in October 2016. This forced a short suspension of the trial." If MOT had disclosed AV safety issue to the public beforehand, it could have minimized the damage caused by AV.

In conclusion, MOT omitted significant information on AV to win public opinion on AV. However, AV might find its place in a distant future when the problems are solved.

Reference :

MOT Singapore – Driverless vehicles: A vision for Singapore’s transport. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.mot.gov.sg/transport-matters/motoring/Detail/driverless-vehicles-a-vision-for-singapore-s-transport/)

Nesnow, G. (2018, February 09). 73 Mind-Blowing Implications of a Driverless Future. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@DonotInnovate/73-mind-blowing-implications-of-a-driverless-future-58d23d1f338d

Hideaki, T. (2017, December 17). Potential economic and social effects of driverless cars. Retrieved from https://voxeu.org/article/potential-economic-and-social-effects-driverless-cars

MRT collision at Joo Koon station: A timeline of events. (2017, November 16). Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/mrt-collision-at-joo-koon-station-a-timeline-of-events-9407824

Cheah, L. (2017, December 01). Commentary: Driverless vehicles can reshape Singapore, but do consider the human elements. Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/commentary-driverless-vehicles-reshape-singapore-smart-nation-9451258

Mohktar, F. (2018, July 05). The Future of Work: No more bad drivers? Making self-driving cars smarter than humans. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/future-work-no-more-bad-drivers-making-self-driving-cars-smarter-humans

Reader response Draft1

In the Singapore Ministry of Transport (MOT) website(2018) on Driverless Vehicles: A Vision for Singapore’s Transport, MOT states that it has been investing on the research on Autonomous Vehicle(AV). It started with the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS), which consists of renowned specialists that forge the strategic direction for AV. MOT also mentions that it has already had existing AV technology in Singapore in a form of Singapore Rail Lines, driverless buggies and autonomous shuttle bus. MOT has had also done various efforts on AV such as introducing a test course for AV on public roads within One-North under real traffic condition. Furthermore, MOT envisions AV to be the highlight of town-planning by providing connectivity between neighborhoods. In the MOT website, LTA further suggested that by enabling car-sharing, AV could potentially become a common transport which could scale down the number of vehicles on the road by a third. Which, they believe AV will forge a future of us depend on it.
Although the MOT mentions various benefits of AV, the website fails to discuss the impacts of AV and the reliability of AV using present technology.

First of all, MOT did not mention how AV will impact the society when AV is fully implemented. Based on the (MOT) website(2018) on Driverless Vehicles: A Vision for Singapore’s Transport, the benefits and vision were based on an assumption of positive reaction from the public. However, this is not true based on an article from Channel News Asia(Dec 2017) "If cities do not achieve the targeted shifts to public transport use, despite the introduction of this new travel mode, the postulated benefits may not be fully realized." This meant that MOT vision on AV will not be realized without the public support. Channel News Asia(Dec 2017) further stated, "And for car owners, many of whom have families to ferry around, will it be easy enough to hail a robo-taxi, such that they give up their cars?" This further implies that MOT vision will increase the difficulty for the public to own a private car. MOT could have done some form of statistical analysis before executing any form of AV movement in Singapore.

Secondly, MOT failed to discuss the economic impact on AV in the future. Based on the MOT website(2018) on Driverless Vehicles: A Vision for Singapore’s Transport,
MOT mention they had planned for the public to commute daily by AV rather than using a human operator in the future. This shows that MOT did not elaborate that AV could have caused an economic distress in which will lead to a shortage of job in the transportation and car industry. This point is further enforced by Hideaki Tomita (December 2017) as he states, "transportation companies suffering from a serious labor shortage – such as long-haul truck operators and home delivery service providers – will introduce autonomous driving services, thereby enabling them to change their business models drastically." Additionally, (Geoff Nesnow) state a similar point "The auto insurance industry as we know it will go away (as will the significant investing power of the major players of this industry). Most car companies will go out of business, as will most of their enormous supplier networks." what MOT should have done is to not go full scale with the AV movement until the economic impact is solved.

Lastly, MOT did not mention the setback AV had in Singapore. Based on MOT website(2018) on Driverless Vehicles: A Vision for Singapore’s Transport, MOT gave various examples of existing AV technology in Singapore. One of them was the North-East and Downtown MRT lines, and LRT. However, MOT did not mention its failure on keeping it rail system reliable. This is supported by Channel News Asia website (Nov 2017)"6.30pm: LTA and SMRT held a press conference and explained how a signaling software glitch caused the accident." Additionally, another example of AV technology in Singapore given by MOT was the One-North public road test.

Same goes to public road test, the AV was involved in an accident. This is quoted by FARIS MOKHTAR from TodayOnline (September2018)"In Singapore, there has been at least one known accident at one-north involving a lorry and a nuTonomy driverless taxi in October 2016. This forced a short suspension of the trial." If MOT had disclosed AV safety issue to the public beforehand, it could have minimized the damage caused by AV.

In conclusion, MOT omitted significant information on AV to win public opinion on AV. However, AV might find its place in a distant future when the problems are solved.

Reference :

MOT(2018) https://www.mot.gov.sg/transport-matters/motoring/Detail/driverless-vehicles-a-vision-for-singapore-s-transport/

Geoff Nesnow (Feb 9) https://medium.com/@DonotInnovate/73-mind-blowing-implications-of-a-driverless-future-58d23d1f338d

Hideaki Tomita(December 2017) https://voxeu.org/article/potential-economic-and-social-effects-driverless-cars

CNA (Nov 2017) https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/mrt-collision-at-joo-koon-station-a-timeline-of-events-9407824

Michael Baker(Dec 2017) https://www.crimsonhexagon.com/trillion/driverless-cars/

CNA (Dec 2017)https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/commentary-driverless-vehicles-reshape-singapore-smart-nation-9451258

TodayOnline - FARIS MOKHTAR (September2018)

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/future-work-no-more-bad-drivers-making-self-driving-cars-smarter-humans