Parliament: Shorter waiting times for
buses
Eighty percent of buses will now have to leave bus interchanges
and terminals every ten minutes or less during weekday peak periods
- earlier than the previous 15 minutes.
Speaking in parliament, Second Minister for Transport, Lim Hwee
Hua says this has been the case since the 1st of August this year,
when the Public Transport Council tightened the Quality of Service
standards for bus services.
She highlights that 90 percent of feeder buses now have to leave
interchanges and terminals every ten minutes or less - up from the
previous 85 per cent.
Operators have also added more than 260 bus trips to 109
services during the morning and evening peak periods.
Frequencies for these services have improved by 18 per cent and
their carrying capacity by 24 per cent, says Mrs Lim.
"I would like to assure Members of the House that under the
price-cap formula, operators have to absorb the cost of these
improvements, and are not allowed to pass them on to commuters in
the form of higher fares. Under the formula, fare adjustments are
determined by overall economic indicators, namely the change in the
Consumer Price index referred to as CPI and the national Wage Index
or the WI, and not the operators’ specific costs. "
She stresses that the cost of buying new buses and operating
additional bus trips will not affect fares.
However, in raising Quality of Service standards, the Council
has to be mindful of the impact on the financial viability of the
operators.
--938Live
