faster

i picked kok up two days ago to attend the 2008 female 50 gorgeous people event at zouk. it was about 7pm. and there was a huge jam on the pan island expressway (pie). it was, of cos, a frustrating drive considering i don't usually take this highway at this time of the day! but to kok, it was nothing unusual as he drives to town for his weekly tennis game at this time every friday. so, he was able to guide me and tell me when to change to what lane to beat the jam... and one pattern emerges - if you travel in the inner-most lane (lane 4) at specific stretches of the highway, chances are that you will be able to save easily 15-20min off the time needed to get to city. and the reasons are very simple

• cause of jam - typical kiasu behaviour of singaporean drivers... most drivers, once they enter the highway, would filter to the outermost lane thinking that it will be fastest. as a result, all lanes (less the innermost lane) would be jammed up or slow.

• road design - one word - terrible. most expressway (including pie), has a total of 4 lanes. for flyovers, most has 3 lanes, and the innermost lane (lane 4) is to allow cars to exit. so naturally, all drivers, afraid that they would be stuck in lane 4 (and as a result, forced out of the highway), would try to squeeze into lanes 1-3 as soon as they enter the expressway thereby leaving lane 4 with relatively less vehicles.

• opportunities - jams occur during peak hours, peak hour traffic include lots of buses sending employees or students home. and buses usually use lane 3 and they tend to pick up slower once they stop (in a jam). this allows cars in lane 4 to easily chuck in into lane 3 when the opportune is right.

so, often, one would see seasoned drivers, switch to lane 4 immediately after a flyover, pick up speed, chuck into lane 3 at the right time in front of buses just before a flyover, cross the flyover, cut back into lane 4, speed up, chuck into lane 3 again before the next flyover...

learned a new tactic!

:-)