I have always tried to be impartial to SMRT, but it still cannot
erase the fact that I have experienced a LOT of
consistent nastiness from them, not to mention the way they are
running their bus business in general - neglected routes, neglected
towns, the killing of CSS (when at least route 608 still had pretty
high loads during peak hours), etc.
When I said "When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?", I did
not literally mean it to say that SMRT also throws their commuters
off the expressway too; what I was referring to was SMRT's
sometimes callous regard for the safety and welfare of their
commuters. Let me just mention that I have been thrown off at a
police centre by a route 962 bus driver (who used to drive TIB
1125A) just because I accidentally tapped by ez-link card on the
entry reader while it's still on entry mode, and the bus driver
decided to blow things over - and the police centre was at least a
kilometre's walk away from my home. I overpaid for a longer walk
home - tell me where's the logic in this. I did manage to claim
back the fare afterward - but I sometimes think of that as a lucky
break, as I had tried to claim back some fares from them
previously, only for them to make sure it was virtually impossible
for me to do so by obfuscating the entire procedure and kept
directing me all over Woodlands Interchange and MRT station - I
eventually gave up. That, plus with all the stories I hear and
experiences I have on SMRT buses (a Nissan Diesel speeding down
Upper Thomson Road at 80km/h with a full load of passengers, or
hard braking to a stop just millimetres shy of a taxi in front,
anyone?), does not leave me with a good impression.
As for SBS Transit, let me surprise you with this little fact.
There was a time when I hated SBS Transit and preferred SMRT (then
known as Trans Island). It was only with the increasing nasty
experiences I have with SMRT, coupled with how SBS Transit was at
that time truly trying to improve their standard of service by
investing in new routes and buses, that made me dart for SBS
Transit. However, with this incident, plus with many of the stories
I have been hearing from them as of late, is forcing me to start
reviewing my respect for their company. I admit, I'm biased in
favour of SBS Transit - at least before, but hearing about this
incident is really forcing me to look at both SBS Transit and SMRT
again. Hence, the SMRT's low remark: SMRT, I felt, was already
quite bad on this regard, and I used it as a comparison to what I
can see is SBS Transit's dropping standard; if you put the remark
the other way, you can see it as that I'm actually insulting SBS
Transit.
I hope I have done enough explanations regarding this subject.
Let's be brutually honest here: Singapore's public transit system
sucks (and that applies to everyone involved in the
system, not just SMRT or LTA or such), and there's a lot everyone -
companies, authorities, commuters - must do lest our
public transit system degrades into a shameful orgy.
I know you are being honest. Let's face it. Many of us have had
good and bad encounters on both companies. No company is perfect,
but no company is also as worse as what we can think of it to
be.
I don't mind if you are being biased - it's human nature to be,
but a reminder that you need to select your words carefully. Or not
it makes your whole viewpoint ugly. And finally, it's one thing to
be biased and just voice out viewpoints of your own, and its
another thing to be biased and try to make people have the same
biased views as you. Not directing this to you - I'm confident you
are of no such character.