New York Airport Service is a private bus company that provides transportation between New York metropolitan area airports and Manhattan. The service is meant to provide a middle ground between the cheaper, but slower forms of government-owned public transportation (MTA Regional Bus Operations, New York City Subway, or Long Island Rail Road) and the quick but expensive taxicabs

• New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn (11201)
• Aloft New York, Brooklyn (11201)
• McCarren Hotel & Pool, Brooklyn (11249)
• Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel, Brooklyn (11201)

Scheduled stops are at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, New York Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Various Manhattan hotels are also served through reservations. New York Airport Service held a permit with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the operator of the airports, until January 2011 allowing it to operate express motorcoaches between the airports and Manhattan.

The most populous county in the U.S. state of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, after the county of New York

It no longer holds that permit, but continues to operate service to and from the airports through sister company GO Airlink Shuttle using vans.

The service was popular with Malaysians, who took advantage of the quicker border crossing to get to work and school here.

Tickets for the first two train services leaving JB Sentral on Wednesday morning – at 5.30am and 7am – were sold out. There are a total of seven trips from Johor and another seven from Woodlands every day. Each trip can carry about 320 passengers.

Secondary 4 student Hew Sin Hui, a Malaysian who studies here, was one of those who took the 5.30am shuttle.

Commuters said the shuttle – which costs RM5 (S$1.79) from JB and S$5 from Woodlands – was more efficient than taking the bus, which could take between 45 minutes to over two hours if there was a jam. Shuttle trains leaving from Singapore yesterday morning, however, were relatively empty. On the 6.30am train which The Straits Times took from Woodlands, there were less than 10 passengers onboard.

One of them, freelance photographer Bobby Teh, 68, said: “The train timings are not so good. They only run during the morning and evening peak hours.”

The departure times from Woodlands station are 6.30am, 8am, 9.30am, 5pm, 6.30pm, 8pm and 11pm. From JB Sentral, the trains leave at 5.30am, 7am, 8.30am, 4pm, 5.30pm, 7pm and 10pm.

Mr Teh said the price of $5 was also steep, as he could take a bus for just $2.

Retiree Lee Chee Hua, 64, however, said that taking the train was hassle-free because he could clear both the Singapore and Malaysia immigration counters at Woodlands itself. “There’s also no fear of a traffic jam,” he said.

With the new shuttle service, trains to and from KL Sentral, Butterworth and Gemas – which previously terminated at Woodlands station – will now end at JB Sentral.

Commuters will have to use the Shuttle Tebrau to travel between JB and Singapore.

A 62-year-old Malaysian, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lee, said he took the train from KL at 11pm on Tuesday and was scheduled to arrive at JB Sentral at 6.45am on Wednesday. This would allow him to take the 7am train to Singapore.

But due to a delay, he only arrived at 7.10am, and he had to wait almost 1 1/2 hours to catch the 8.30am service. “KTM must look into the timings, and allow for more time to pick up the passengers on the overnight train,” he added.

Look closer, and the 135kW of power and 270Nm of torque made in the 220i Convertible helps it achieve a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 7.6 seconds – identical to the A3 Cabriolet 1.8 TFSI quattro flagship that produces 132kW/288Nm but is also heavier. The BMW also claims combined cycle fuel consumption of 6.4 litres per 100 kilometres, 0.2L/100km better than that Audi.

• The 228i has the same consumption as the top A3 Cabriolet
• Its tuned-up turbo engine produces 180kW/350Nm
• The 228i is only $400 cheaper than an S3 Cabriolet
• Audi makes 210kW, 380Nm and claims 5.5sec 0-100km/h.

Compared with the 1 Series Convertible, the 2 Series Convertible is 72mm longer (measuring 4432mm) with a wheelbase extended by 30mm (to 2690mm). Despite being only 26mm wider than before (at 1774mm), the tracks have been pushed out by 41mm at the front and 43mm for the rear wheels.

The question now is, of course, whether the 2 Series Convertible can go beyond facts and figures to prove itself a properly premium and genuinely good drop top. Curiously, however, each car on test also had an option within the sport setting to change chassis settings, which is usually a feature BMW admits is only reserved for cars with adaptive suspension; yet it insists none at the launch had adjustable dampers.

All of those cars were once just a dream in somebody’s head. The cars we drive say a lot about us.

It may come as a surprise to some that the BMW 2 Series Convertible has reasonably large shoes to fill in our market. The roof mechanism itself is now a five-layer fabric, up from four layers before, and this contributes to top-up quietness that BMW claims mirrors the coupe all the way up to 150km/h. When you want to whip it off, that fully electric process will take 20 seconds at speeds of up to 50km/h.