OM 101 Environmental Management and Control System

CASE STUDY Guidelines and rules:

1. This is your final requirements in this subject OM 101 Environmental Management and
Control System
2. This case study is 20% of your grade (group performance assessment)
3. Rubrics of computing your grades will be attached here for your proper guidance
4. Each group will choose 1 case study below following the given format and rubrics for
your guide.

I. COVER PAGE
(follow the thesis cover page format
includes Students name section and SR CODE)
II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(executive summary provide brief summaries of the business operations,
Company’s background, Competitors, Key services, Management team)

Executive Summaries should give readers a high-level overview of your Case Study.
This is NOT the introduction to your document; rather this sets the scene and describes your
company, vision and product offering. In your mind’s eye, see the Executive Summary and the
Case Study are two separate documents. Approach each one with a different ‘writer’s hat’.
Executive Summary will be tightly-written, direct, and high-level. You dive into these points in
the case study itself. This applies to in-depth case studies over five pages. Shorter case studies
may not require the same background information.
When writing your Case Study’s executive summary provide brief summaries of the following:
• Business operations
• Company’s background
• Competitors
• Customer list
• Financial projections
• Flagship products
• Industry awards
• Key services
• Management team
• Market share
• Marketing and sales objectives
• Office locations
• Partnerships
• Strategic alliances
 • Vision Statement

The Executive Summary should be no more than one or two pages.

Think of an executive summary as a time-saving measure. It's not necessarily for you, but for the
people who are going to receive and review your study. It captures the most important
information, so your readers can understand your data and conclusions in a fraction of the time it
would take them to read the entire study
You might begin with an introduction, explaining why you prepared the case study even if it was
because higher-level management requested it. Explain why the study was necessary. Describe
how you conducted your research. Lay out your findings, then finish with your
recommendations. With most executive summaries, quoting the corresponding report word for
word is a bad idea, but when you’re summarizing a case or research study, it’s considered
permissible to “cut and paste” portions of your recommendation section.
III. A. ANALYSIS OF CASE
(provide the necessary background to lead to defining one or more
reasonable alternative solutions to the problem. Also include SWOT)

Identify the most important facts surrounding the case.

Read the case several times to become familiar with the information it contains. Pay attention to
the information in any accompanying exhibits, tables, or figures. Many case scenarios, as in real
life, present a great deal of detailed information. Some of these facts are more relevant than
others for problem identification. One can assume the facts and figures in the case are true, but
statements, judgments, or decisions made by individuals should be questioned
The case analysis should begin with a very brief description of the background and key players
in the scenario. This description provides a context for the problem. In the remaining paragraphs,
you should describe the problem, trying to be as succinct as possible. Your description should
include consequences/potential consequences of the problem and a statement to convince the
reader why this problem is important, particularly from the perspective of the organization.
Some Helpful Hints:
• Use concepts, theories, and/or empirical evidence reported in the management literature
(our text and assigned readings) to provide a framework for your analysis and support for your
conclusions.
• Take care to use terms/concepts appropriately and precisely.
• Base your analysis on facts and do not try to place blame.
• Be careful not to make assumptions that cannot be supported by the facts in the case.
B. KEY ISSUES and GOALS
 (Use the facts provided by the case to identify the key issue or issues
facing the company you are studying. Many cases present multiple issues
or problems.)

Identify the key issue or issues.

Use the facts provided by the case to identify the key issue or issues facing the company you are
studying. Many cases present multiple issues or problems. Identify the most important and
separate them from more trivial issues. State the major problem or challenge facing the company.
You should be able to describe the problem or challenge in one or two sentences. You should be
able to explain how this problem affects the strategy or performance of the organization.
You will need to explain why the problem occurred. Does the problem or challenge facing the
company comes from a changing environment, new opportunities, a declining market share, or
inefficient internal or external business processes? In the case of information systems-related
problems, you need to pay special attention to the role of technology as well as the behavior of
the organization and its management.

C. DECISION CRITERIA
(Evaluate each alternative using the facts and issues you identified earlier,
given the conditions and information available.)

Specify alternative courses of action.

List the courses of action the company can take to solve its problem or meet the challenge it
faces. For information system-related problems, do these alternatives require a new information
system or the modification of an existing system?
Evaluate each course of action.
Evaluate each alternative using the facts and issues you identified earlier, given the conditions
and information available. Identify the costs and benefits of each alternative. Ask yourself "what
would be the likely outcome of this course of action? State the risks as well as the rewards
associated with each course of action. Is your recommendation feasible from a technical,
operational, and financial standpoint? Be sure to state any assumptions on which you have based
your decision.

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS
(Recommend the best course of action.)

Recommend the best course of action.

State your choice for the best course of action and provide a detailed explanation of why you
made this selection. You may also want to provide an explanation of why other alternatives were
not selected. Your final recommendation should flow logically from the rest of your case
analysis and should clearly specify what assumptions were used to shape your conclusion. There
is often no single "right" answer, and each option is likely to have risks as well as rewards.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
(It sums up the key points of your discussion, the essential features of your
design, or the significant outcomes of your investigation)

5. SUBMISSION: on or before May 21, 2021

6. If you have questions you may ask your instructor by phone email or social media
7. Follow the general format below for uniformity
 Type of documents: -Word or PDF
 Font size: 12
 Font Style: Times New Roman
 Margin size: Normal/double space space
 Paper size: Legal size/portrait
8. You may send your final Case Study paper to jojo.conti@g.suite.batstate-u.edu.ph
Format (Gmail)
Title: (Name of Group, Section) MGT 202 Final Requirements
Message:
(write your message stating the details of your final requirements, kindly include the
members and group assessment form)

CASE 1
The Landcare System in Barangay Ned (Philippines)
The Philippines have a long history of issues involving development and the environment. The
new Philippine constitution, ratified in 1987, included specific provisions for sustainable and
equitable management of natural resources and the environment. The issue of soil erosion and
land degradation in the uplands is widely recognized as the most significant environmental
problem in the Philippines.

Recent environmental policy has focused on Landcare programs to promote the development,
dissemination and adoption of appropriate conservation farming measures. (Cramb 2003) The
landcare approach to sustainable agriculture, which has its roots in Australia in the mid-1980s,
began to emerge in the Philippines in the late-1990s. Developed as a collective strategy at the
local level to deal with land degradation, the landcare approach is formed around groups at the
local level supported to varying degrees by government and non-government organizations.
Campbell (1994) defines a landcare group as a group of people concerned about land degradation
problems, who are interested in working together to do something positive for the long-term
health of the land.
This summary will focus on the Landcare system implemented in Barangay Ned, part of Lake
Sebu Municipality in the province of South Cotabato in Southern Mindanao.  This is an ideal
case study because it deals with extremely difficult conditions and it has received minimal
outside support.

Barangay Ned was established in 1962 but poor accessibility and lack of security prevented its
development until the early-1980s. Despite its relative isolation from the municipal center, it still
has a population of nearly 15,000. Due to moderate temperatures, continuous cultivation of a
wide array of crops is possible. The dominant crops in the area are rice, which is primarily grown
for home consumption, and maize, which is primarily grown for sale.

Barangay Ned provided a formidable challenge for the Landcare program. Sloping land, high
clay content in the soil, and land clearance due to increased cultivation and logging make erosion
a very troublesome issue. Also, farmers were poor with little education. Though aware of soil
erosion, they lacked the knowledge and means to combat it. On the other hand, Barangay Neds
agricultural potential and general lack of previous intervention meant the Landcare program had
a high probability of success.

The agencies that formed the earlier Philippine Landcare systems already had a track record of
success going into the Barangay Ned project. To Barangay Ned, they brought two new emphases
the promotion of natural vegetative strips (NVS) to buffer against erosion, and the formation of
community landcare groups. While the formation of groups was its main concern, the Ned
Landcare group also sought to increase the human capital among farmers by increasing technical
training, which included conservation measures and the introduction of new crops (which ended
up consisting mostly of perennials such as coffee and fruit trees).  According to Cramb and
Culasero (2003), Farmers interest in acquiring planting materials and technical knowledge for
crop diversification was used as the entry point to encourage both adoption of conservation
measures and membership of landcare groups. These measures proved successful in
accomplishing these goals.

By 2002 some 39 groups with 366 members had been formed in Barangay Ned. Within a few
years of program implementation, farmers had started forming groups on their own and it had
become a self-sustaining system. As a result, there was a steady rise in contour barriers in the
area. A few groups had even gone beyond their initial goal of conservation farming and had
made efforts to meet some of their members other needs such as cheaper farming inputs and
medicine. Over time however, some decline in group activity had occurred, perhaps due to a
documented decline in training.

All told, about a third of the farmers in Barangay Ned had adopted conservation measures, most
of which were successful in controlling erosion. The decision to adopt was based on the need for
soil preservation, and the desire to receive benefits such as fruit tree seedlings. The decision not
to adopt was based on lack of time or interest, the perceived difficulty in adopting, and lack of
ownership rights of the land. Non-adopters seemed as aware as soil erosion as adopters, but
adopters had usually acquired some knowledge of conservation measures gained through farmer-
led events, and observations of neighbors farms.
Adopting was associated with desirable changes in crop yields, soil loss, soil fertility, use of
fertilizer, and the planting of fruit trees. However, a clear trend in increased income was not
apparent. Landcare membership was positively associated with adoption, but adoption was not
exclusively reliant on membership. Almost half of the landcare members were not adopters and
over 20 percent of the adopters did not belong to landcare groups.

Before the implementation of the landcare system, Barangay Ned was severely limited in many
livelihood resources, such as physical, financial, human, and social capital, all of which led to
depleting natural capital. Whether or not farmers had access to training was a key reason farmers
adopted conservation techniques. The farmer-to-farmer nature of this training contributed greatly
to its effectiveness.  It also gave farmers access to new livelihood-enhancing opportunities
through their interest in soil conservation.

To conclude, we have learned that an approach to increasing sustainability in developing areas

must take into consideration the livelihoods of the inhabitants. The simple transfer of technology
will prove insufficient in achieving these goals. A program must be able to invest in farmers
human and social capital in order to build their capacity to implement sustainable techniques on
their own.

QUESTION: Has the Landcare system implemented in Barangay Ned in the Philippines
achieved its two goals of livelihood security and environmental sustainability?

CASE 2
SOURCES OF DEFORESTATION (Philippines)
The Philippines is geographically broken down into two regions: the upland area and the lowland
area.  In these upland areas the natural forest still exists, but this natural resource has been faced
with pressure from the agricultural sector.  While this area has experienced output growth over
the years, the extremely low yields resulting from lack of technology development suggest that
this output growth in the uplands is primarily the result of increased land use.  Poor farmers are
primarily in control of this increasingly scarce natural resource of upland forests, as is the case in
most developing nations.  The rates of forest clearing and deforestation are dependent on far
more than just timber trade, the desire to expand agricultural land, livestock holdings and
political incentives can all put pressure on forest resources. 
 
Historically in the Philippines, policy biases have put pressure on the forests by promoting
growth at the forest margins.  Given the rapid population growth in the Philippines,
approximately 4.4 million jobs would be required to absorb the increase to the labor force
(Shively 2001).  This population growth has resulted in a migration to the uplands, where the
expansion of the agricultural sector has provided the jobs necessary to support the growing
population. 
 
The degree of dependence on agriculture in the Philippines is high, even by Southeast Asian
regional standards, and this is in part due to the policy path that the government has
chosen.  Beginning after World War II, the government officially encouraged the migration to
the forested frontier areas as a means of alleviating the strain of an increasing population and
stagnating technology on the rice-growing heartlands.  Migration to these forest margin lands
continued as the unemployed moved away from the lowland areas that were unable to absorb the
population growth.  Poorly defined property rights that are also difficult to enforce, further
facilitated this internal migration pattern by making it easy for farmers to expand into the forest
margin at a low cost (Coxhead et al. 2001). 
 
Although the forest is not an employer in a literal sense, it is the first destination of settlers and
others, and the incentives exist in the Philippines to promote clearing of the forests because of
the low access costs and high returns compared with other income alternatives (Shively
2001).  The existence of these high returns has largely been influenced by the actions of the
government.  In addition to directly promoting the migration to the uplands of the Philippines,
the government has adopted trade barriers to maintain the country’s dependence on agriculture,
thereby indirectly maintaining the pressure for farmers to expand at the forest margins to
increase their income. 
 
In the mid 1900’s the government adopted import bans on numerous agricultural products to
ensure high prices.  The Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 was brought about after the
Uruguay Round of trade negotiations and so it was at this point the country adopted tariff rate
quotas to replace its direct import bans.  The in-quota tariff on corn, the largest cash crop in
upland areas, remained at 35% but the out-quota tariff was initially set at 100% to support the
efforts of domestic farmers.  Another one of the government’s policy biases towards agricultural
sector and particularly corn was its Grain Production Enhancement Program (GPEP).  The
program designated “key production areas (KPAs)”, primarily in the upland regions where corn
is produced,  and made producers there eligible for subsidies.  It also provided them with the first
benefits of research and development advances aimed at increasing corn yields (Coxhead et al.
2001).
 
Developments in agricultural technology, specifically irrigation of lowland farms, have had some
positive affects on reducing the pressure on the Philippine forests.  Prior irrigation, all of the
lowland farms were rain fed.  The introduction of irrigation projects into the region had several
outcomes.  The first is that farms could now produce two crops per year as opposed to the
previous one.  The result was higher income for these farms.  With families on irrigated farms
having a higher income, fewer family members needed to work, creating an increase in the
demand for labor in the lowland areas.  With the high labor mobility, workers came from the
upland areas to meet this increased demand, and thus reduced the need for to expand their upland
farms.  Research has found a strong positive correlation between levels of household poverty and
the probability of forest use (Shively 2001).  The increased agricultural income created by the
increase in technology, reduced the need for upland farmers on the margin to expand their
operations.
 
It is clear in the case of the Philippines, that the Government has played a large role in
determining the pressure on the forests of the nation.  The gains for forests from the
implementation in lowland areas however, can be only short-run gains unless the government
takes certain actions.  If the government pursues policies that reduce the costs for pesticides or
machinery this could move the agricultural sector from being labor intensive to capital
intensive.  While this could increase income, it would negate the positive effects that have been
realized under a labor-intensive production where labor shifted from the uplands to the lowlands
(Shively 2001).  The problem of expansion into the forest margin in the uplands is exacerbated
by other environmental issues, especially the land degradation and soil erosion that is associated
with the agriculture expansion.  Land fallowing and crop rotation is rare in the Philippines and
soil conservation measures are rarely adopted.  This is a problem when combined with the use of
fertilizer and pesticides, which can then enter the water supply and cause health concerns
downstream.
 
The agriculture sector of the Philippine economy has historically placed great pressure on the
forest resources of the nation.  Furthermore, the expansion of the agriculture sector can be
directly correlated to the governments influence on the market and creating artificial incentives
for farming expansion by artificially maintaining high prices for agricultural goods.  While these
policies may have been useful for boosting the country’s economy and creating income, it has
had a detrimental affect on the forests of the Philippines.  Trade policy liberalization would have
promoted growth in export non-agricultural sectors that would have been beneficial in absorbing
the unemployment caused by rapid population growth without putting pressure on the forest
margin through the expansion of agriculture (Coxhead et al. 2001).  

QUESTION: What affects have government policy and agricultural had on the forest margin of
the Philippines?

CASE 3  
Bicycles as Transportation Policy (Japan)
Through necessity, Japan has adopted the bicycle as a essential component of transportation. The
island nations limited geography, high density and lack of petroleum makes it an ideal location
for small, efficient bicycles. The destruction of Japans infrastructure during the second world
war forced citizens to employ non-motorized means of transportation until the nations high speed
railways were developed in the 1950Õs. With renewed infrastructure in place, the Japanese were
quick to reject bicycling and its post-war reconstruction connotations and took to riding collector
busses to and from railway stations. The bus system began to be overburdened in the late 1960Õs
and riders began to find the system slow, expensive and inconvenient.

The disincentives of bus travel and surging environmental concerns associated with motorized
travel initiated a shift in public opinion in favor of bicycling and bike ownership began to grow
at 10% annually . Bicycles inundated railway stations and caused a bike pollution problem,
inciting the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Construction to take action and build
22,000 bicycle parking spaces in 1973. Japanese bike ownership doubled between 1975 and
1977, demanding additional construction projects in 1978.

The Japanese government recognized that bike travel was favorable to other modes of transport
for many reasons. Biking requires no petroleum and cyclists consume only 32 calories per mile
compared to automobiles 1,800 cal/mi demand. Cyclists respiration contribute a scant 2 grams of
carbon dioxide per passenger mile, while single-occupancy automobile emits 85 CO2 grams per
mile (Lowe 1989). On the road, eight cyclists can occupy the space needed for one automobile
and when stopped, twenty bikes can be parked where there is space for just one automobile
(Allen 1994). These advantages prompted the government to consider other ways to promote
bike travel including considerable urban design changes and the addition of 37,000 miles of
bike/pedestrian pathways during the 1970Õs. From an energy, pollution and density standpoint,
the bicycle is more efficient than any other mode of short-trip travel. Because commuters are
reluctant to pedal more than about four miles, railway stations are located near residential areas
so that commuters will be willing to pedal to the nearest train stop; innovations in high-density
bicycle parking offers travelers in the busiest stations safe, fully-automated mechanical storage
facilities. Construction of the most expensive facilities cost $2,000 per bike, compared to $4,000
to $18,000 for a single automobile parking space in the United States (Replogle 1992). Japanese
investments in bicycle infrastructure are offset by savings in subsidized bus systems as bicycle
growth has surpassed bus ridership growth; at some railway stations, more than 50% of
commuters arrive by bike.

The Ministry of Transportation has developed an elaborate bike rental system coordinated with
the rail systems. Japanese travelers purchase a card granting them unlimited bike rental for a
month; this allows people to ride a bike to the station near their home, surrender it there and take
another from the station nearest their workplace. The identical, lime-green bikes have a built in
lock, bell, light and basket for parcels; their uniformity enables extremely high density storage.
In order for bicycles to be accepted as a mode of transportation, the atmosphere for cycling must
be appropriate. The Japanese have effectively discouraged automobile use with high ownership
costs; in the capital city of Tokyo, automobile registration averages $1,000 a year; parking fines
can be as high as $1,500; gasoline costs 3.1 times the U.S. rate and tolls on a sixty-mile trip can
cost $60. These costs reflect unsubsidized automobile use (as opposed to the U.S.Õs highly
subsidized system) and Japans historic aversion to resource-consuming, pollution-emitting
vehicles.

Urban planning encourages bicycle use by adopting traffic calming techniques to intentionally
slow down and discourage automobile use. The community street method involves turning
straight streets into meandering, narrow passageways dotted with trees and vest pocket parks.
Intersections may have irregular surfaces or large humps or even have diagonal diverters to
prevent easy passage (quoted from Japanese urban planning guides). These arrangements in
residential and commercial areas have garnered 90% approval ratings from citizens. Automobile
traffic slowed to 5 to 7 mph and reduced by 40%, and bicycle traffic increased by 54% in front of
their homes and businesses when community streets are used in favor of traditional roads. More
severe are the traffic cells, which prohibit personal automobiles near city centers, reducing traffic
death rates by 58%, and cutting automobile-related pollutants by 16%.

The consequences of the bicycle-intensive transportation system in Japan is favorable. Over 80%
of Japanese households own at least one bike, and the national average is 1.42 bike per
household. High non-motorized mode share has lowered Japanese per capita fuel consumption to
10% of Americans.

The future is not as encouraging as the past. Overall bicycle mode share is falling. Rising
incomes threatens bicycle usage as Japanese commuters are increasingly able to afford expensive
automobiles. Despite their previous expenditures, the Japanese government seems uncommitted
to future expansion of bicycling infrastructure and they are likely to enhance their nations
automobile infrastructure if possible (Replogle, 1997). It seems that their history of sustainable
transportation may have been only a temporary measure, forestalling their current move to
energy-depleting and pollution-causing mechanized transportation.
QUESTION: Can bicycles become a viable form of transportation?

CASE 4
Peak Hour road Congestion Pricing (Singapore)
Singapore, a small city state experiencing rapid industrial growth, found itself faced with the new
problem of urban traffic congestion in the seventies. A large population with a strong preference
for automobiles, coupled with a concentration of most of the economic industries into the small
land area of the central business district led to severe traffic conditions including congestion,
reduced traffic speeds, and environmental problems. These problems clearly had to be dealt with.

Each automobile user causes externalities which impose unfavorable conditions on others. Since
roads are built to accommodate a certain capacity of people, after that level is reached, each
additional vehicle slows down the other cars on the road thus imposing a longer traveling time of
all of the other drivers. Furthermore, automobiles produce air pollution, which is another
eternality which affects the population of Singapore (Toh,77 52).

To help alleviate this growing problem, the Singapore government took a four pronged approach
to attempt to lessen the problem. Firstly, a curbing of car ownership was dealt with by increasing
the purchase and ownership costs of motor vehicles through tariffs. Secondly, steps were taken to
improve public transportation in an effort to encourage its use. Also an attempt to improve the
management of the Singapore's roads was made in an effort to make them more conducive to
accommodating traffic. Finally, on June 2, 1975 an area licensing scheme(ALS) was enacted
(Toh, 77 52).

This area licensing scheme defines a restricted zone in the central business district containing a
land area of 5.59 square kilometers. This scheme restricts use of the roads in the central business
district (CBD) during the hours of 7:30 to 9:30 (changed to 10:15 on Aug. 1). Only cars which
display a license are allowed to enter this zone through one of the 22 vehicular entry points. This
license can be purchased on a daily basis for S$3 or on a monthly basis for S$60. (This fee was
changed in December of the same year to S$4 for a daily license and S$80 for a monthly
license.) Company cars were charged twice the residential rate for a license, while busses,
service and military vehicles, carpools (with four or more people) and taxis were all exempt and
could move freely within the CBD without a license (Toh, 77 53).

This regulation was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It was hoped that this ordinance
would give car owners an economic incentive to reduce the use of roads in the CBD and curtail
peak hour traffic by 25 to 30%. Additionally, the reductions as a result of the restrictions in the
morning hours were expected to lead to a "mirror image" reduction in the evening return hours,
as people were expected to take alternative means to work and then return the same way (Toh, 77
54).

The Area Licensing Scheme was extremely successful in reducing traffic congestion during the
peak hours. By the fourth week of the ALS, traffic flow during the peak hours had fallen by
45.3%, this included an astonishing 76.2% reduction in the number of cars in the CBD. It was
found that during the restricted hours in response to the ALS, carpools increased their market
share by 96.9% by increasing from 12.7% of the vehicles to 30.2%. Additionally, some of the
commuters switched to public transportation and the percentage of commuters traveling by bus
increased from 35.9% to 43.9%. However, not all of this reduction is due to a decrease in the
number of individuals driving their cars. It was found that many people shifted their travel times
within the restricted area to just before and after the restricted hours. Additionally, new "escape
corridors" around the CBD experienced increasing traffic as commuters avoided the CBD and
took alternate routes. Originally, part of the reduction in private vehicular use was offset by an
increase in the use of taxi's within the CBD. Shortly after the enactment of the ALS (June 22),
taxis were taken off the exempt list and the presence of taxis then fell to below the pre-ALS
level. Finally, it was determined that the "mirror image" hoped for did not occur and those
commuters that altered their morning commute hours or route did not do so on their return trip.
Also, to deal with the "escape corridor" situation, traffic lights were reset to accommodate the
increased traffic flow (Toh, 77 54).

In 1989, in effort to strengthen the results of the ALS, the Singaporian government modified the
program. The restricted hours were lengthened to include the afternoon rush hours of 4:30 to
7:00 (later shortened to 6:30). Furthermore, car pools, private and school busses, commercial
vehicles, and motorcycles were taken off the exempt list (Toh, 92 298).

The short-term results of the ALS have been found to have been sustained. This program has
been traditionally credited with decreasing traffic flow in the CBD during the peak hours by 50%
since its implementation.

The ALS has experienced both praise as an innovative means for a much needed successful
decrease of traffic flow in the CBD and some criticism by those who think that this regulation
goes to far. This regulation uses economic incentives in an attempt to allow car users to
internalize the social costs that they impose when they use their vehicle. Although, the increased
travel time of other commuters is the eternality which most of the literature stresses, it is
important to note that car use also imposes environmental costs. Questions have been raised
about whether or not the license fee is a good representative of these externalities. In 1990 a
study by the Public Works Department in Singapore found that in fact the average speed in the
restricted zone during the peak period was faster than during the non peak periods (McCarthy
98). Since one would believe that there would be an incentive to travel during the peak periods, it
has been argued that the efficient outcome would have a greater number of cars traveling at that
time than at other times (McCarthy 98).

The Singapore Area License Scheme has without a doubt been extremely successful in curbing
traffic during the peak hours of travel. While both carpooling and use of busses increased since
the regulation there have been some negative side effects. These include increased traffic flow
before and after the restricted hours and increased travel around the restricted area. However,
most believe these to be a small price to pay for the improved conditions and the prevailing
question is if the prices for the licenses are too high and the roads are now economically
underutilized.
QUESTION: Can Singapore's Area Licensing scheme effectively reduce traffic congestion
during the peak hours of traffic flow?