Yeah this is Singapore, we cant do much! So many of our bus
routes (excluding those with express sectors) are more suited for
bendys than DDs simply because of the number of busstops along the
route. General public chooses to take bus to MRT station and
transfer and DDs really lay over for quite long. But this is
Singapore, we cant afford to use so many bendys with the land
constraints that we have.
So according to PTOs, when people complain cant board, they just
throw in DD and the ball is back to the public's court as to
whether they want to go up or not. But either way, they cant
complain the PTO is not doing its job properly. So the solution?
Its obvious, we cant move to having more bendys on the roads, so
the choice will be to design bus trunk routes that suit DDs like
those in HK so that the DDs are used properly and not just there
for show that the PTOs have done their part. Feeders to provide
linkage to MRT for people who prefer MRT comuting and trunk routes
as alternatives to MRT for people who prefer bus. This will
probably take ages or may never ever happen unless someone takes a
bold step forward. Its the sad reality.
Till then, just live with it. Even though the DD is quite empty
on top, it still carries more people than a SD and so its still
better because you cant use so many bendys on our roads. Its
because 169 has bendys as well that people can do this comparison
and say bendy is better etc. So many SBST services also go this
issue but we never had a direct comparison so people just live with
it. Atleast I still do respect SMRT for seeing the use in bendys
for their feeders and still purchasing new units for their feeders
as opposed to SBST which is just throwing in DDs to show they have
done their job.
Woodlands, I doubt will leave the hands of SMRT even in GCM. So
many bendys over there...
If you observe, it is only people in SMRT area that complain
about DDs. It is because they are not used to them yet, which is
understandable. On SBST side, I have also posted many pics to show
how the smallest feeder route 225 has DDs... and has full upper
deck when it leaves interchange during PM peak.
Last week, I had another observation: sv 45 DD at Tanah Merah
MRT towards UEC Terminal had almost full upper deck. Around 45-50
pax boarded at TNM MRT and many many of them went to upper deck. If
you see, its only 4 stops from there to terminating point.
Give it some more time, you will see upper decks getting better
utilized for short distance also.
