Praise bus operators instead of penalising them! WTF!

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Praise bus operators instead of penalising them

READING yesterday's report, "Bus firms fined over poor service", I noted that the Public Transport Council fined our two main bus companies for having overcrowded buses and for buses that did not arrive frequently enough.
I am puzzled because both grounds for penalising them appear to be beyond the control of the operators.

Overcrowding is caused by passengers who may not heed the appeals of the driver. If he has to evict recalcitrant passengers, he may be in danger of bodily harm or have to keep the other passengers waiting until back-up arrives.

As for the unjustness of the second penalty, companies should be fined only if the buses did not leave the interchange frequently enough. Once the buses are on the road, they could be delayed by heavy traffic, floods, road accidents and so on - all of these are beyond the companies' control.

On a positive note, the companies are in the process of recruiting more drivers. However, this should be done stringently to ensure that no short-tempered speed maniacs get behind the wheel.

The council could have used its power to impose fines with greater circumspection. The report states that the two companies were fined for the third time. It states that only three SBS services defaulted as opposed to nine in the previous review. None of the SMRT services defaulted.

In view of the marked improvement, could it have been more productive not to fine the companies but to praise them for their performance and urge them to do better. If they do not, they may be fined the next time.

Many of us do not get worked up over a short delay, but we would like to get a cool and safe ride.

However, this is often not possible because:

* The air-conditioner is either too cold or not cool enough

* The advertisements on the windows prevent us from seeing the road clearly

* The grab bar behind the exit door is too far from the passenger who sits there to be of help if the driver applies the brakes suddenly

* Some seats are so close to one another that a commuter has to travel with his knees bunched up

* The TV Mobile is either spoilt or too loud.

The council should address these inconveniences too.

Murali Sharma

 

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Latest fines won't affect bus companies

I AM shocked by the light penalties stated in yesterday's report, "Bus firms fined over poor service".
Fines amounting to merely $4,500 and $100 are pocket change to the bus companies and may send the wrong message to them. I travel occasionally by bus and take the trains where possible because of the latter's efficiency and regularity.

Having recently started to take buses more regularly, I have noticed that while in general, the newer buses are more pleasant to travel in, problems are still not being addressed by the bus companies.

Apart from just monitoring the buses, the Public Transport Council should also consider having its officials stay with a bus throughout its entire journey to observe both the timing and crowd at the various sectors. This would allow them to ensure that the buses do not get overcrowded and to observe bus timings at various times of the day, including off-peak hours. This will, in turn, help them to better advise bus companies on how to schedule their bus timetables.

The bus that I travel on most frequently is SMRT service 980 which travels from Kallang to Sembawang.

Waiting time for this service stretches up to 30 minutes, making a mockery of its listed waiting interval of 17 minutes.

Often, passengers have to wait for the next bus as the one that arrives is too packed, with some passengers even standing on the steps.

This bus is extremely popular with foreign workers, particularly on Sunday nights, as it passes by Rochor Road and there is a foreign worker dormitory in Thomson Road.

I have witnessed bus company staff in uniform at the bus stop in Rochor Road on Sunday nights cajoling passengers onto the buses and overcrowding them.

One solution is to run a special express bus service for these workers that go direct to their dormitories on weekend nights.

Besides overcrowding and frequency, I have noted several other areas in which the bus companies are lacking:

* SMRT buses are getting old and stuffy. Judging from the amount of dirt seen on the bus filters, the air-conditioning systems on many buses are not cleaned regularly enough.

* Bus drivers need to be more careful when they apply the brakes. On average, four in five buses I ride on have drivers who step too hard on the brakes, causing the bus to jerk. On two occasions, I have actually seen people fall, with no one stepping forth to help. This jerkiness does not occur only at bus stops but also at traffic lights.

Colin Lim


Latest comments
Authority set up rules to fine people.PEOPLE set up picture file to keep companies like them from paying lip service.
$100 not much but every public user spread word to improve our enviroment daily posting with buses time and number is a good united movement for cleaner air.The feeder service at my place is O.K but the air filters stucks.
Posted by: catnmouse at Wed Apr 08 09:05:34 SGT 2009


what is a fine of S$100 to the bus operators ?

come and take it from me if that can improve the service standard and frequency (as stated) of the bus services
Reply

the S$100 fine on SMRT bus is a joke!
Posted by: kenaspammed at Wed Apr 08 08:29:58 SGT 2009


I believe a more serious auditing of the standards of maintenance is needed to review the quality of services provide is better than fining them.
Posted by: MisterAdolf at Wed Apr 08 07:22:38 SGT 2009




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