It is appalling and surprising that such failures, or rather, a series of failures in both the trains and buses are happening in Singapore, a recognised World Class Public Transport country. Singaporeans would definitely wonder what has gone wrong. Not to mention, not only the public transport standards are deteriorating, the increase in frequency of flooding, large influx of foreign workers, and ungracious behaviour has been happening again and again in Singapore.
Why has Singapore changed so much? We really have to ponder this dont we?
Let's focus on Public Transport for now.
I am actually a bus fan with interests of the public transport services in Singapore, especially the Buses. Since young, when the bus fare for students was only 45 cents, I'd happily pick a bus service, and travel from one end to another whenever I'm free. I'm also super excited to see new bus models and would grab the opportunity to board them when I have the chance!
I still remember how comfortable the bus rides were when basically you will have no problems boarding the 1st bus you waited.
Who can remember there were yellow buses on the roads in the past? It was not until 2004 when SMRT has officially acquired Trans Island Bus Services (TIBS), rebranding it to SMRT Buses. I can never forget the quite satisfying experiences I have with TIBS buses and the drivers then. It was a pleasure riding on them.
As I was a frequent commuter of Bus Service 163, I have the best of both worlds. 163 was one of the very few bus services which have undergone the handover exercises between Singapore Bus Service (SBS) and Trans Island Bus Service (TIBS) in 1995 and 1999 respectively. From a full non-aircon bus services in SBS, to partial aircon bus service until 1995 when TIBS made 163 full aircon bus services.
The experience was exhiliarating on both sides. SBS and TIBS generally provides very good bus service standards, or rather, reasonable bus standard then where buses will generally reach the bus stops on time, and that you would have no problems to board the buses at all. You can almost guarantee that you will reach a certain destination at an estimated amount of time.
However, sad to say, I can't really do that now. I'm forever unsure when can I board my bus (now no longer a frequent commuter of 163), or whether I can board the next train and whether I have to end up walking on train tracks or get stucked in the train due to breakdowns and disruptions. What really annoys me is having to squeeze till the very edge of the bus almost everytime and gasping for air. The travelling experiences in the bus services now definitely is not satisfactory.
I acknowledge the government's efforts in trying to raise the bus and trains service standards, implemented from 2011, named the Bus Service Enhancement Programme. However, has situation really improved? I would say, yes, but to a limited extent.
Something you cannot help but agree that the population in Singapore has increased significantly since 2010. I do not want to go about debating how government's treatment towards us locals and foreigners because this is not the issue here.
My point is, the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) aims to ease the public transport travelling experiences and reduce overcrowding. By adding 800 buses on the roads, with 40 new bus routes in the plan may seem to be a feasible solution, however, it is going to trigger to a new problem. LTA also has plans to open new mrt lines in the next 20 years.
With the already congested roads in Singapore, adding more bus services and more buses will result in heavier congestion, and what's next to remedy this problem? More ERP?
Ok back to the topic, I agree that these solutions do help in improving the bus services standards, but without controlling the influx of population, will it actually help the situation?
I applaud the efforts of both SBS Transit and SMRT in their fleet renewal, especially SBS Transit, renewing almost the whole fleet of theirs to improve comfort level in travelling. However, more has to be done to solve this overcrowding issue.
The recent video that was uploaded and has gone viral was the 13 bus wait for Service 190 before one can board.
Bus Service 190 is a notorious bus service under SMRT which has very very very high demand. It is definitely a torture to be inside a bendy bus of 190, standing up squeezing with the other passengers, and travel along the expressway. Of course, it is no wonder why everyone is boarding 190 because it is one of the very few bus routes and the shortest one to get from Choa Chu Kang to Town.
MRT is always faster than buses? Not for this case.
I would want to comment that I am actually very disappointed in how SMRT is managing their bus services ever since they took over. We have seen many issues that were not surfaced before. Increase in frequency of bus breakdowns, poor maintenance of buses, buses not arriving on time, and lots of other issues which did not surface during the TIBS days.
SMRT is also making matters worse by not purchasing high capacity buses. With the current limited amount of Bendys they have in their fleet, the problem of overcrowding persisted. This is especially evident in North West region, managed by SMRT, namely Bukit Batok, CHoa Chu Kang and Woodlands and Yishun.
It just seems that either SMRT does not want to bother about improving their bus services, or they just could not manage. Why not hand some of the bus services, for example 190 over to SBS Transit as I believe they have better capabilities in managing?
I had several unpleasant experiences with Bus Service 857 as well. I had to wait up to 4 buses (around 40 mins) before I can board the bus to school. What if im in a rush to exams?
I do understand the limited resources SMRT has, but I guess the problem is taking too long. LTA has to solve them by giving some of the bus services to SBS Transit or purchase new high capacity buses for SMRT to cope with the load.
This comes to another debatable issue on whether government agencies should provided aid to private companies which I do not want to cover in this blog post.
Let's really hope this situation will improve soon.
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