Pay for not giving way Grace period over, motorists
blocking buses to be fined $130
YOU could soon be fined $130 if you are caught not
giving way to buses exiting 180 designated bus stops across the
island.
After a successful pilot trial of the new 'Mandatory
Give Way to Buses' rule, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) plans
to implement it islandwide over the next two years.
During the three-month trial, which began last December
at 22 bus stops at three locations including Bukit Batok East
Avenue, Toh Tuck Road and Ang Mo Kio, 1,522 motorists were warned
for not observing this rule.
LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said this number is small.
'By and large, motorists are gracious enough to give way. People
are adjusting to the pilot trial. Considering that the total car
trips is 6.8 million per day, this 1,522 number is very small and
it's spread over a few months,' he said.
On average, the number of motorists straying into bus
lanes is about 2,000 a month.
Under this rule, motorists travelling along affected
roads are bound by law to give way to buses exiting a bus
stop.
This is akin to motorists stopping just before a yellow
box on the road and letting other vehicles through.
But a number of motorists either didn't understand the
rule or just couldn't be bothered.
The LTA said yesterday that these motorists were warned and
given advisory notes to inform them of the new scheme.
None of them was fined, but when the scheme proper kicks
off, offenders face a $130 fine (no demerit points).
No negative motorist feedback
LTA said it had not received any negative feedback from
motorists regarding this scheme.
Indeed, it was such a success that LTA is extending it
islandwide over the next two years.
Some 180 bus stops have been identified for this scheme, which
will cost some $1 million to implement.
The bus stops were selected based on the time taken by buses to
exit the bays in areas such as Choa Chu Kang, Tampines and Ang Mo
Kio.
There are more than 2,000 bus stops in Singapore.
LTA said that based on data from the three trial locations,
buses were able to exit the bus stop faster, with time reduction of
up to 73 per cent in some cases.
The total journey time for bus services that ply the three
locations also improved by up to 7 per cent.
LTA said the average vehicular speeds at the three roads showed
no significant changes.
SBS Transit executive director Gan Juay Kiat said:
'Since the introduction of the scheme, we have seen an improvement
in the time taken for our buses to exit bus bays.
'This benefits busloads of commuters who do not have to
wait several minutes at each bus stop as the bus captain tries to
get back onto the main road.'
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