I know abt the problem of not having enough buses for SMRT's
side. haha. But think long-term uh? training the drivers on O405s
is only a short-term thing & not going to be enough if the
fleet is moving more and more towards the MANs or even Citaros as
forming the bulk of the fleet in the future..
Everyone can say that, well they're only training the drivers
how to drive, the bus they train on doesn't matter. But think about
it, the instrumentation are not exactly the same on both O405s and
the more modern MANs..no way you can try to read the dials on the
O405 the same way as you do on the MANs.
And doesn't the MANs have a trip computer too like the Citaros
& KUBs? Find me a trip computer on the older O405s..
And isn't 288Y the only MAN in TRG now? Alot of the bus fans are
thinking from the commuter's point of view, they want new buses,
buses to fill the empty slots etc. Think from the viewpoint of the
dept in-charge of training the drivers in this case.
In my opinion, It is not about using the kind of buses that they
use, but rather at what timing they will find the replacements.
Look at the rate at our current hispano fleets. Some would be
going within 2-6 months, Most of them would be going off in the
next 10-20 months to come. At that time are they going to 'panic'
who should deserve the L-plate? Isn't that too late to begin with
where you can have it planned earlier?
From the dept IC of training the L platers for heavy vehicles, I
am sorry but it is not enough.
I would reduce the number of Hispanos for L plates for this
instance. I do not think I would need so many old buses for L
plates but I would focus on how would my drivers drive buses with
new gadgets in the near future. Clearly SMRT didn't think it this
way.
