Cut back on parking lots in the city and raise parking fees to discourage motorists from driving in during peak hours.

These were among the ideas thrown up at a focus group discussion last night, to gather views from the public for the Government's ongoing review of the land transport system here.

More than 50 participants, comprising commuters, taxi drivers, academics and transport operators, came together at the Land Transport Authority's premises in Hampshire Road to offer their views on what could be done to improve land transport.

Suggestions raised at the dialogue, titled Making Public Transport A Choice Mode, also included running more feeder buses in private estates and providing cheaper parking at the train stations so people can park-and-ride.

These ideas, argued participants, will entice more people - car owners included - to take buses and trains to and from work.

Chairing the discussion, Minister of State for Transport Lim Hwee Hua said the suggestions and problem areas raised during the two-hour-long session will be considered in the Government?s policy review, which is expected to end in about a year.

Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport chairman Cedric Foo and Public Transport Council (PTC) chairman Gerard Ee co-chaired the forum with her.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the closed-door event, Mrs Lim said the discussion showed the participants understood that the land transport system rested on striking a balance between the interests of different groups, and that, going forward, continual trade-offs between the groups would have to be made.

Not surprisingly,the evergreen complaints of long waiting times for buses and overcrowding cropped up during the discussion on improving the bus service.

Mrs Lim pointed out that, sometimes, the problem lay in social behaviour rather than with the policies themselves.

For example, she said, one way to reduce 'crowding' on buses was to persuade commuters to move to the rear of the bus instead of clustering near the doors.

Yesterday's dialogue was the first of five to six such sessions. Subsequent sessions will be on managing road use and meeting the diverse needs of society.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim announced five months ago that a comprehensive review of the public transport system would be done as a follow-up to the 1996 White Paper on Land Transport.

Mr Ee told reporters that he found last night?s discussions constructive and was heartened that people came with suggestions instead of grouses.

He said: "The session was very positive and I have been given much food for thought. The PTC will certainly look at some of these suggestions."

Members of the public who wish to contribute their ideas to the review can send their feedback to the LTA?s online feedback portal http://talk2lta.lta.gov.sg or e-mail land_transport_review@ lta.gov.sg