The rationale for such a move is straighforward. LTA is getting
operators to familiarise with different models and makes so as to
prepare them to deal with depot shifts.
We must recognise that operators, under GCM, will change from
time to time. This also means that one single operator will also
handle different depots as they win and lose different
contracts.
We must also recognise that the buses in a depot, being
government assets, are not going to move with the operators. So
SBST cant bring its entourage of Citaros and Wrights from say HGDEP
to Bulim, for example, and expects the SMRT makes there to be
kicked out.
Seeing as such, operators must know how to deal with different
makes in order to prepare themselves for a depot shift.
There is a reason why LTA is
injecting all sorts of bus makes into different depots. This is to
further reduce the effort an operator must waste when it handles the fleet
from another depot
(imagine if GA handles a full fleet of SBST makes at Loyang. If one
day it shifts to Woodlands and is faced by a sea of SMRT fleets...)
By diversifying the fleet now, operators are spending the effort
now to learn how to handle different models, so in the future they do not have
to.
But if anything, I hope if they go for a uniform fleet it will
not be the Wrights due to its lacklustre interior fitting... Owing
to the lousy, blockheaded design principle of SBST.
I do not think wholesale depot shifts are specified in GCM
contracts. That is a very unlikely scenario, unless LTA is
expecting at least one operator to go bust in the next few
years.
Contract areas (and consequently, depots) changing hands (e.g.
Bulim going to SBS Transit) is still at least 5 years away. There
is no guarantee the mechanic taking on a new model now is going to
stay on for the next five years. Even so, operators are given at
least 6 months in advance to make such preparations.
For every extra model the operator receives, the operator has to
buy and store its own spare parts. That adds extra costs. If the
parts are out of stock, do not expect to ask rival operators for
help. They do not and will not. LTA might be able to ask nicely
(the same way they ask for drivers from SBS Transit during SMRT
drivers strike), but they cannot compel another operator in such a
scenario.
The risk for operating a small variant fleet is that they can
remain out of service for months while waiting for the spare parts
to be shipped in. We have seen that with many of the demonstrator
buses.
