Tuas or Woodlands?
For people entering in JB, you can do so via Woodlands as well as Tuas. There are a myriad of factors to consider in deciding which side is better.
Personally, I prefer Tuas over Woodlands. This is because I use public transport. And the traffic in and out of Tuas is much easier. This is because the traffic volume is less dense in comparison to Woodlands side.
This can be in part due to the higher toll charges for the motorists on the Tuas side. So, many tend to avoid Tuas/2nd link and use Woodlands checkpoint instead.
Toll comparison (as of 10/23)
Assuming that one drives an SG car to go into JB on a return trip, you can see that the difference between the toll charges is astronomic! Hence driving the bulk of the traffic towards Woodlands.
Consideration for going into JB via Woodlands
The good thing about using the Woodlands side for crossing in between SG and JB is the myriad of public transport options. This includes numerous buses and even trains. With an additional option of RTS materializing in the near future, it promises an even smoother travel between the 2 countries.
However, since the bulk of the car traffic goes through Woodlands in conjunction with the public transport users, this crossing can be a pain in the ass.
I do not own an SG car. This is because of the astronomical cost of owning the right to own a car in SG for only 10 years. Just look at the COE prices here. Instead, I own a JB car at much cheaper costs. As such, I need to park my car and change over to public transport. If I choose to head into SG via Woodlands side, it is significantly more difficult and expensive to find a parking lot for the day.
Also, for people for are living in JB heading in SG, many tend to own or rent properties near to the Woodlands crossing. As such, property prices and rentals are higher the closer it is to the crossing. This will reduce the margin of savings one can get living in JB.
Consideration for going into JB via Tuas
Crossing between SG and JB between Tuas side can be smoother. However the short-coming is that there are much less public transport options. Interestingly, there is a current bus monopoly operating between the crossings.
In addition, since the distance between the 2 checkpoints are much further unlike the Woodlands side, users are prohibited from walking to, across and out of the checkpoints.
These cons aside, my JB home is much closer to the Tuas side crossing. And I get cheap, easy public parking before hoping onto the bus that brings me right to Jurong East interchange. So this side becomes my go-to when making crossings between the 2 countries.
On top of that, I will make the crossing during off peak hours so that adds further to the ease of travel. If you are interested to know a bit more about my story, you can read it here.
