Fast or slow?

last SG · 2009-09-11T21:46:54+00:00

That's 187. Unfriendly and slow. What else can you expect. Really that bad ah?I feel it's ok other than once when the SL refuses to move the bus just because...

lianamaster SG

From your observations, which are the services that usually travel very fast (tight schedule), and which services usually move like tortoise on the road (long timing schedule)?

Take note that im not talking abt specific BC's driving speed, but about services that travel fast or slow in general.

From my observation as a passenger and as a BC while on the road :

Services that travels really fast: 14, 24, 26, 27, 36, 39, 63, 66(super tight schedule), 78, 80, 99, 143, 161, 168, 502(always wanting to overtake other services along orchard) and most SMRT services.

Services that travels slow: 19 during off peak, 23, 30 during daytime offpeak, 31 along marine parade n bedok south, 38 especially aft 10pm, 42, 60 during morning offpeak, 65, 70 along nicholl highway, 89, 196 on weekends, 197, 335, 506 if no jams on PIE.

What do you guys think? Hope i'm not starting a potential flame thread :)

Ranking of speed and hiongness at my area:

502 > 187> 99> 98> 198> 334 >157 > 185> 335

Raraken SG

39 is pretty okay, teh KUBs tend to scream along SLE/TPE.

Most chiong-able services at or near my house

856 (No need say liao) , 882, 980, 161 (I miss 9845X, chiong along SLE nice engine sound), 178 (Striders now cannot chiong, haizzzz).

sir_peanuts SG

I think HK buses go at 80km/h for expressways.... 60km/hr for normal routes.

not just for expressway. it feels faster moving out/away from a bus stop. especially on a long route like 61, the slowness of pickup will make your blood boil.

service_238 SG

how come no one say about 74?

collinnxk88 SG

Actually from my experience in driving SBST buses, the acceleration of the buses seem to be better when temperature of the surroundings is lower. Therefore, i realise acceleration is better during early mornings, at night, and on rainy weathers. Im not sure how true. Some of the colleagues i've spoken to dont seem to agree with me.

this is quite true... when the air is cooler than normal by 3 to 5 deg C, there is better combustion in the engines without resulting in a higher operating temperature and thus, engine operation is more efficient which explains the better acceleration.

and somehow or rather, sbst really tends to tighten the acceleration thru means of controlling the fuel intake into the engine.. b9tl discussion mentioned that b4? o.o [besides 'safe', also can save cost? -.-] but nontheless, the more 'torquey' models such as LO3X still do manage to produce good acceleration + climbing power despite such setbacks.

and indeed, many in the SMRT fleet do have better pickup compared to that of SBST.. among the pre-wab models, Lances somehow beats others hands-down in terms of acceleration.

lifelikedrama SG

how come no one say about 74?

last time before the circle line opened, was bad... nowadays not that bad already

n4l SG

how come no one say about 74?

74e is slower/as fast as 74 :p~

The last few times I took 39, it was sooo horribly slow that even lorries and other buses were overtaking it. . .oh well, maybe just my luck :p.

JaSoNhSu92 SG

sv 99 can be considered fast also.. due to presence of bunchups.

like in pm peak, high demand sector is from clementi to jw st 91, after loop to clementi then low demand. in this case some buses will be quite empty and overtake each other.

lifelikedrama SG

74e is slower/as fast as 74 :p~

The last few times I took 39, it was sooo horribly slow that even lorries and other buses were overtaking it. . .oh well, maybe just my luck :p.

74e is faster, provided that there's no jam in PIE

sinicker SG

when 2828 - 2830 were on 39, fast.

KUBs, slow.

SBS3688Y SG

I've heard from some colleagues saying that the pick-up speed of SBST buses are tightened due to safety concerns. Not sure how true. But SMRT buses have better pick-up than SBST. Most of the time if a SBST and a SMRT bus are side by side at a traffic light, the SMRT bus can easily run ahead of the SBST bus when they move off, even when SBST bus is at full acceleration.

I'm not sure about hong kong buses. Is it better than SMRT buses?

That reminds me of the younger days of former SBS Scania CRB buses. The acceleration was very powerful and with a quiet engine. I can hardly notice when it zipped passed me! Due to a later spate of accidents involving this model, SBS weakened its acceleration to the entire fleet.

^tamago^ SG

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n4l SG

74e is faster, provided that there's no jam in PIE

Time saved isn't worth the cost imo, unless maybe you're talking about taking it to Hougang - that I won't deny there could be a saving.

I took 74e from SIM to Marymount Road. The 74 behind the 74e I boarded reached Marymount Road first - and there wasn't any jam on PIE. Was on time too. . .

74e takes 35 minutes if we look at the timetable (SIM to Marymount Road). The normal 74 takes about 30-35 too...(in fact sometimes giving 35 minutes to the normal 74 is sufficient enough for it to reach the end of Clementi Road :x)

SBS7382C SG

yeah last time was gd...but when it went on to feeder services suddenly become very very slow

Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1) SG

Svc 18

Sometimes fast

Sometimes Slow

vicamour SG

I'm not sure about hong kong buses. Is it better than SMRT buses?

If you have been a bus captain for SBST long enough, you might know that there was a series of numerous bus accidents by SBS buses in the 1990s. The accidents happened very frequently, at least one per month, be it major or minor. I guess is this series of incidents that made SBS tuned up its bus fleet for safety reasons. That time they even engaged techinicians from Mercedes Benz, Scnia and Volvo to check on the condition of all the bus fleets. So that's probably one of the reason why SBS bus trips are slower since then.

However I do agree SBST buses are slower generally, which means a longer schedule time for each trip. Advantage: Bus captains will drive at a speed that is safer, and on the other hand, they do not have to worry or stressed out when driving on tight schdules, and less fatigue and stress for them. Bus company can also ensure buses arrive on time for certain locations with better frequencies, as promised by the bus operator. Disadvantage: Buses may have to slow down due to ahead of schedules or drive very fast because of lag on schedule.

Double_decker, as a staff of SBST, maybe you can feedback this to SBST in the public's point of view that bus trips are too slow for most commuters. To make bus commuting more attractive, you can suggest to them that the travel time for each trip can be cut by at first 5 mins for every trip and do a progressive time cuttings as time passes through trial and error. However this might not be easy as it involves a lot of re planning and maybe even might be at a disadvantage for bus captains. But for long run service improvements, I think it's worth the try.

However this problem will be more prevalent in future due to 10 min frequency ruling, as timings have to followed tightly to prevent bunching. So most likely slower trips. If I am LTA, I would rather offer a 15 min time interval, a seamless guided bus system and at least 80% double decker fleet to cater the needs of commuters during peak hours. Longer frequency yes, but more punctual trips (using guided bus system), and comfortable trips (more seats avaliable for double deckers).

lifelikedrama SG

Time saved isn't worth the cost imo, unless maybe you're talking about taking it to Hougang - that I won't deny there could be a saving.

I took 74e from SIM to Marymount Road. The 74 behind the 74e I boarded reached Marymount Road first - and there wasn't any jam on PIE. Was on time too. . .

somehow i gotta agree to this. because there's a 'risk' present along Dunearn Rd, but nowadays we seldom see that area jammed. Another place is Lornie Rd. Used to jam like crazy last time, nowadays not that much, so there's a chance 74 is faster than 74e.

Last time, 74 in AM peak comfirm lambat, at least 5 to 10 minutes, worse case scenario can go up to 20+minutes. Nowadays, not wierd to see them early... Imo, the 74 runtime can be revised slightly... and that the ffw is allowed to change their route according to traffic conditions, but it seems like when PIE has a major jam, they still go accordingly... they should either make use of the service by Onemotoring and LTA to view the traffic cameras before deciding which route to go, or when the 1st bus encounter any jam, report back to the OCC...

If PIE were to jam and Lornie Rd and Bukit Timah Rd are clear, they should just express that stretch of route...

but on the light note, i still support the 74e route.. haha.. been collecting the tickets for the different regos.. still rmb the days of 1943Z, 1959D and 1965K, and now 2717D, 2721R and 2723K...

SBS2601D SG

As with the speed-limitor, we'll have some that are not disadvantaged.

The most obvious being some LOs, and MKIV DMs.

Edit: Also, if you guys know anything for the better, please keep quiet...I know you would wanna share the regoes, but let's not spoil the party.

ZYX2005 SG

I think HK buses go at 80km/h for expressways.... 60km/hr for normal routes.

hong Kong buses are now speed limited to 70km/h on highways. new rule in palce this yr.

sianz

(As if my Dennis Dragon ride on highway there then was any faster, the guy was going some 65km/h , its like taking a sbst LO3x on the Hong Kong highway...)

SBS n SMRT SG

197 SUPER SLOW.

who says, i took at 40-60 kph full trip defore, try to take the early A shifts nfrom bedok interchange

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