Actually taking a step back, I feel that SMRT had done
everything they can for this service... Frankly, the frequency
cannot be felt in other services, much less service 106 which also
have this cramming situation once a while, also the same time, also
from city towards the heartlands.
Funny thing is, are there anything to be solved now, or there is
nothing at all, just our short-sightedness? There is just many
people (yes, talking of only weekends) and the buses in the system
perhaps just nice to cope with the traffic.
I agree that its uncomfortable to squeeze with other commuters
on the way home or standing all the way, but we solve the 'able to
board' factor first. Taking Japan as an example, why the trains are
so packed in the city is much due to utilization,
the maximum usage of space in every vehicle. This maximum can be
pushed way beyond what we, Singapore have, like 205-209 percent of
passengers on a train. Putting this in, it is evident that s190 is
a highly utilized service. With a highly utilized service and
frequency that is well within PTC's regulations, then there is
really nothing much to be done about it.
My personal viewpoint, and I think that this is also shared by
many other folks, is not for every commuter to get a
seat, but rather the aspect of being able to get
home on the bus, without having to walk to the train
station or take any other alternative transport, including night
buses. For me who wait at Orchard area for a bus at the same hour,
abeit towards a different location in the West, I too hope being
able to squeeze on board a bus, standing is totally no problem for
me, provided that the frequency is within reasonable range! For my
same situation, there is a last s174 bus which would reach Orchard
around 0012 hrs, later than s77 or 106 for the same bus stop. I
hope that this viewpoint would be more reasonable instead of
argueing for 'every passenger to have a seat' or '2 minutes
frequency' which would either be impossible or a draining of
resources and destroying the aspect of utilization.
Thanks.
there is a solution. SMRT can make 700 extend to CCK. Maybe use the
67 route instead of teck whye. If they increase the frequency, they
can pull maybe a few passengers over to 700 instead.
