Not sure if this is a good idea. I think the depot/ Yishun
interchange is still trying to determine if replacing a portion of
the bendy/rigid fleet with DDs is a good thing?
Personally, I'm not convinced
if DDs are best suited for plying the route of 854, given that
throughout most of the day, this service is usuallly filled with
many passengers (which means the bus will be stopping to
pick/disembark commuters at almost every bus stop.)
It is also undeniable, that the time taken for a DD to disembark
passengers would be slightly longer as compared to a rigid/bendy,
as the bus captain has to ensure passengers at the upper level are
clear before he can move off.
Given the high arrival frequency of the service, deploying DDs
on 854 will only serve to lengthen the waiting time for passengers,
as DDs often end up behind schedule, being overtaken by the buses
behind due to the time it takes to pick/disembark
passengers.
Personally, on two occasions, I hopped onto an 854 DD from
Yishun interchange to Bedok to test its efficiency during a peak
period. Turns out, despite the bus driver speeding up, the time
taken for the DD to move off from one bus stop to another is
agonizingly slow. And of course unsurprisingly, it wasn't just
overtaken by one bus.
It was actually overtaken by 2 rigids, and 1 habit bendy from
behind. By the time the DD i was in arrived at Eunos, opposite the
road at the bus-stop, the 854 that went off before this DD from
Yishun is already there at the other side. That was how much behind
schedule the DD is.
Sorry to say... but get yourself back to "reality"... while
these bendies last it is okay... in future you will see them only
on feeders... and after that who knows... maybe Singapore may not
have any bendies anymore... the thought of that makes me sad... but
it is the "reality"... and everything you mentioned... I don't know
how many times it has been debated DD v/s Bendy.. both have their
pros and cons... but at the end DDs are a superior
bus model for Singapore.
