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[above: Ms Luana Low, 23, assistant corporate communications manager]
The early riser
Having to travel two hours every morning by crowded MRT and bus to her office in Changi prompted Ms Low, who lives in a Housing Board flat in Dover, to buy her off-peak Subaru R2 last September.
She wakes up at 5.30am to leave her home before peak hours start at 7am.
She has no complaints, as she had to get up at the same time to get to her office on time at 8.30am by public transport.
It takes only 40 minutes by car, compared to the two-hour travelling time previously.
The off-peak motoring fits in with her schedule at the end of the day, too, as she says she usually finishes work after 7pm, during the off-peak hours.
Her elder sister, Camy, 28, a project manager, uses the car on some nights.
It also comes in handy when Ms Low goes out with friends after work or 'when I take it for a spin at night to unwind'.
She uses the car on weekends, too, but only after the restricted hours as she does not think it is economical to pay to use it earlier.
She is thinking of paying the $100 administrative fee to convert to the revised scheme.
She says with a smile: 'The main reason I would do that is so that if I drive to work on the eve of public holidays, I won't have to wait till 3pm to go home, especially as everyone in the office leaves at 1pm.'
The weekend warriors
The Tan family has two cars. One is a normal-plate Toyota Allion five-seat sedan bought in 2008 and the other is an off-peak Toyota Isis, a seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle acquired the year before.
Mr Tan drives the sedan to work and ferries his family around in the off-peak vehicle on weekends. This consists of his wife Maria and their four children - Yvette, nine, Darren, seven, Colette, three, and four-month-old Laurette. They live in a condominium in Kitchener Road.
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Mr Tan (far left) with his wife Maria, her father
C.H. Lim, 60, and their four children, four-month-old
Laurette, Yvette, nine, Darren, seven, and Colette,
three. ST PHOTO: AIDAH RAUF |
He says: 'We like to go out as a family to do grocery shopping and to have meals together on weekends. And sometimes, we drive to Johor Baru during the school holidays, hence we need a bigger car.'
Other than their regular family outings, the off-peak car is sometimes used on weekdays too.
Ms Lim says: 'My husband or father uses it to pick me up after my weekly night class at the National Institute of Education in Jalan Bahar.'
She plans to change the off-peak vehicle to the revised scheme, saying: 'It will definitely benefit us. As we do not work on Saturdays, it will enable us to take the family on an outing earlier.'
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