When the Bus Contracts Model is here, there is something I wish
can happen:
the labor (workers) of both
SBS Transit and SMRT that work in the depots and/or drive the bus
can become workers of LTA - similar to the revenue assets (bus and
depot) taken over by LTA.
because in bus contracts model, the bus companies compete with
each other to bid to run bus services.
If bus company change (another bus company run the bus service)
and if the workers belong to the first bus company, the workers
from the second bus company will come in and take over the job of
the workers of the first bus company, leading to unemployment of
the first bus company's workers. This may result in many people not having a
long-term job, as they will only have job when their bus company
win the license to run bus services and they are needed to man
(drive, maintain, etc.) the buses. If their bus company lose the
license, they themselves also will lose their job.
To prevent unemployment (or at least minimize it) and to ensure
(most of) the workers of SBS Transit and SMRT can continue to have
long-term employment, I wish the workers can be taken in by LTA and
work for LTA (the wages and salary also standardized and from LTA),
instead of work for SBS Transit or SMRT.
Similar to the buses, the workers can become fixed assets of
LTA, as they sign on employment contacts with LTA.
This way, the workers can have a stable rice bowl. Even if
change bus company as a result of Bus Contracts Model, it would not
affect their rice bowl, since they are working for LTA, not the bus
company.
After all, the Bus Contracts Model is meant "to drive efficiency and for the market to discover
the best prices for a set of services". The emphasis is on how
the bus company manages its operations and employs the assets it is
allocated.
Some may argue that this may result in workers taking sides
(working hard for the bus company if they like it, while they give
a terrible work for the bus company if they do not like it) or
simply become complacent, since their rice bowl would not be
affected when another bus company takes over the operation of the
bus services.
Well, if the workers dare to
deliver a horrible service, they will face the consequences - just
that it will be from LTA, instead of the bus company. After all,
the buses and workers are
assets of LTA.
If a bus is destroyed in
accident, LTA will replace it with a new bus. Likewise if a worker
does not work or has failed to do a proper job, LTA will ask the
worker to resign. Since the bus and workers would belong to LTA,
LTA will be the one making sure they are suitable for
operations. For instance, LTA can itself employ "auditors" to
review the data recorded by the Intelligent Bus Management System
to check for flaws and ensure coherence. Should the "auditors"
realize that a particular driver has been late or too early when
driving the bus, LTA will have that driver replaced with another
driver. For the workers at bus depot, LTA can do regular checks on
the quality of their service, such as collecting data on how many
buses return to depot for un-planned maintenance (which indicates
how well the technicians upkeep the buses). Whereas for the workers
at bus interchanges - which work as counter staff and/or service
ambassadors - LTA can check on them like how 7-Eleven does it, by
sending "mystery shoppers" to observe their services.
The workers will be monitored by
LTA, while the bus company manage the bus operations and decide the
deployment of buses and workers.
In short, I wish that the workers of SBS Transit and SMRT can be
taken over and become workers of LTA, just like the buses, when the
Bus Contracts Model is here.
In the Bus Contracts Model, the LTA should be the one procuring
the equipment and hiring the workers, and subsequently monitor and
handle them.
The bus company should instead emphasize on managing the
deployment of assets (including
managing how many workers work in a shift), how the bus
services should run (eg. add more
trips during peak hours, reduce trips during periods with lower
demand, having short trips [I believe the bus company is allowed to
do this], etc.), and other aspects of the bus operations,
such as bus advertising and finding ways to lower expenses through
out-sourcing.
