the mrt is the backbone of singapore's public transportation system. it opened in 1987 and has an average daily ridership of 1.7 million people. that dropped nearly 70% since the road pricing system was implemented. >> we want to make our transit system a welming place. people will use it. they will feel comfortable using it. >> reporter: and people do like it. the 2008 gallup poll names singapo singapore's mrt the best in the world in terms of customer satisfaction. >> we too extra care to ensure when we designed the station we wanted to make sure it was spacious so people would feel comfortable walking in them. >> reporter: but not too comfortable. loitering is illegal and there are hefty fines attached. >> i'm going get fined. >> reporter: in this country famous for its fines, there are of course penalties for driving through the gantrys with insufficient funds. >> this is what people say. it's a fine country. fine, f-i-n-e. >> reporter: not surprisingly road pricing isn't popular with drivers. >> people don't like paying for things which they perce

did as well, that omb and cbo differ considerably on the amount of receipts that the estimate f hh mrts will generate in 2011. how would a reduction of that magnitude impact hud programs? >> obviously that kind of reduction would be substantial. again, let me point to the fact that cbo does agree that the changes we are proposing in legislation would have a positive impact on the fund. my fha commissioner is testifying today on the house side in front of the authorizing committee on those changes. i believe it's critical that we do get the authority to increase our annual premium. and that we continue to do the kind of risk management changes and others that we need. cbo fundamentally agrees that those changes will add to the receipts. we have begun to work closely with cbo to look at the reasons for the discrepancy. we would be happy to work closely with this committee, as well as the budget committee, to look at the reasons for that discrepancy. obviously, as you know, while the cbo view is important, it is ultimately advisory and the budget committee can make a determination on its o