Agree that 23, 857 have high ridership because of express nature
of routes. But heavily disagree that 857 have comfortable seats.
Really? With 70 pax cramming into a MAN, by no way it is
comfortable. Yet people choose to take 857 from YCK rd than take
bus to YCK MRT and change.
Okay sorry, let me put it in another way.
Crowding on MRT. Crowding on bus. Which is worse?
On a train, you get speeds not much faster than a bus, but you
have to stop mandatorily at stops and wait for pax to get on and
off. You get a much noisier interior, and worst of all you will
almost certainly have no seats and even if you have one it's those
hard shell ones.
And what if MRT requires transfer while bus doesn't? (happens
most of the time btw)
Bus is not much better either. Cramped interior, potential
traffic conditions, and also a chance of not having a
seat.
However the seats are comfortable, the interior is more calm,
can fly stop if there is no pax Getting on or off, and of course
(scenic) view!
This is why I liked express buses way more than trains in most
times unless there is direct train connection. IMO express buses
encounter the very least jerks and sudden brakes as it travels on
expressway and flyovers without traffic lights. Even the trains
jerk and fling my body more often than express buses. Just my two
cents from experiences in HK, but it should be the same in SG too
if more express buses are introduced, where I would prefer express
bus to train that require transfer.
