I sent this to our Transport Minister today. Hopefully he can
look into it and improve our buses efficiency one day....
Dear Sir,
It has been almost 2 years since the master plan in improving our
Singapore's public transport has been announced to the general
public. Since then, I have been looking forward to the day that our
buses can indeed be our real alternative to a car. Last year April,
based on a feedback I have given to the PTC, they assured me that
by June last year (email dated 14th April 2008), the average
frequency of the buses will be 12mins and by August this year, it
will be 10 mins during the peak season.
Yes, certainly it is true
I have been overseas the last one year and has got back to
Singapore a few months back, looking forward to the changes that
our public transport has undergone.
Nevertheless, I am in for a surprise this month alone when I took
public buses to my destination. It seems to be in the same state as
it was 2 years back, or even 10 years ago.
Take for example when I was on my way to work via bus service 55 on
the 4th June (Thursday). Having boarded the bus at 7.50pm, it
arrived at my destination at 8.55pm. The normal travelling time is
45mins but it took 1 hour 5mins on this day. It resulted in me
being late for work and have to receive a penalty for being
late.
Road conditions may differs, so it might be hard to
tell
On another occasion today, I checked out Iris next bus in ensuring
that the waiting time at bus stop is kept to a minimal. It
indicated that the next bus will be arriving at 6.14pm. I got to
the bus stop at 6.10pm and started waiting. It finally arrived at
6.32pm, with a waiting time of 22mins. I have to cancel my
appointment in the evening as a result.
IRIS is not 100% reliable, mind you
With Singapore buses being one of the main transportation backbone
in moving people around Singapore, it is hardly reliable for us to
put our trust in it.
Please allow me to also share my disappointment with Singapore's
public transport in our local online forums. Hopefully it will
gather enough attention for our citizens to decide whether should
further action be done to ensure quality and checks on our buses
are in place. The penalty fine of a few thousands each quarter
hardly deter bus operators at all. On the other hard, it makes the
governance of our public transport a laughing stock.
Yes, i agree, pls fine them more
With the looming H1N1 threat, can we afford public transportation
to be overly congested? Do we want to increase the stress of living
in Singapore with bad public transportation? We are currently
promoting Singapore to be a city of the future and to attract
people from around the world to live here. I heard that elections
maybe coming soon and there maybe job rotation in the Transport
Minister position. But please do ensure that the objectives which
was set out 2 years ago are met. Public transportation is what
millions of commuters in Singapore has to undertake each day.
Let me reply
See bold in quoted
