"Of long waits and 'leap-frogging' buses"

Oceane SG

Of long waits and 'leap-frogging' buses

I RIDE SMRT bus service 980 frequently. As if the usual waiting time of 15 minutes was not already long enough, on the night of Dec 21, I ended up having to wait 34 minutes for TIB909L (let's call this Bus 1) to arrive, en route to the Sembawang Interchange. The stated frequency of arrival is 13 to 17 minutes between 7pm and 8pm.
As I expected, after such a long wait, the bus was already packed when it arrived. One would have expected the travel pace to pick up to make up for lost time, but that was not to be.

Along the way, the bus filled up with even more passengers, and eventually, had to deny commuters at at least two bus stops. Some of these passengers had also probably waited as long as I had for the bus.

Bus 1 continued at its unspectacular pace for much of my journey, until it was overtaken by another service 980 (TIB673R - call it Bus 2), which went swiftly past and was not seen again for the rest of my trip. It appears I would have arrived home sooner if I had waited even longer for Bus 2.

I have seen this type of 'leap-frogging' practice many times before, and I have come to expect it whenever I have to wait an inordinately long time for buses to arrive. I deduce that for some reason, this 'leap-frogging' is needed to ensure that Bus 2 arrives at the interchange before Bus 1, and Bus 1 has to reduce its pace for Bus 2 to catch up, which would explain the scenario above. I have also noticed this practice on SMRT service 167, and also on SBS Transit bus services. It appears that this is prevalent in our public bus system.

I would like to hear from the bus service operators and relevant authorities, as to why such 'leap-frogging' has to be applied, and if these organisations are even aware of its existence. Bus fares have gone up almost without fail in the recent past. When are commuters going to enjoy an appreciable improvement in waiting times for buses?

Peter Wee Teik Hui

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_191669.html

Rolling Eyes

service_238 SG

Its just another case of ‘I boarded a packed bus after waiting so long and the 2nd bus which was empty zoomed past and flew away’.

tintinspartan SG

The BC of TIB937E had to zoom pass a bus stop cause the capacity is full.

More worse, LAST BUS.

I was onboard and it was full with pax.

Oceane SG

Is it that they are jealous the 2nd bus overtook it? Laughing

choww SG

The frequency for 238 yesterday(31/12/07) during AM peak was horrible. The frequency was at 13 minutes per bus Shocked Worst than a normal Sat schedule Rolling Eyes

ngjy22 SG

Wah, then the queue at TPY Int would be... Shocked

service_238 SG

I think 1 bus missing. Frequency was 6-7min. which trip was missing? fortunately my timing just deviated 1min earlier Laughing

chickenlittle2 SG

Svc 249 also short of one bus yesterday and caused a long queue during the AM peak..

choww SG

SBS176C was missing. It resume service in the late morning. Only 4 buses during the early AM peak yesterday(before the T shifts starts) Laughing

choww SG

==Deleted==

[email protected] SG

Lesson learnt: Should use IRIS to check, if wait long long for the 1st bus, should take the 2nd bus if arriving soon.

Since the article is about an SMRT svc, then too bad lor Laughing

patdog112 SG

tis kind of scenerio always in orchard 190 can see… not 2 but 4 or 5.. and all is crowded

Scania N113CRB luver SG

Wow . If i were the waiting pax at the bus stop , and i do not have enough cash for NR or NO (Nite Owl) , i would surely think "im f**ked up this time" Laughing

[email protected] SG

There are still various options available:

1. There's always svc 11
2. Call a friend/parent
3. Take taxi, reach destination flee (not recommended)
4. Sit there crying, ppl pity u give $
5. ...

muziq bus SG

haha,

i just saw that on 174

the first K230 was packed
the second K230 behind was empty

well, it happens alot on 187 and 190 too. haha

ngjy22 SG

Service 147 also, whenever I see packed bus approaching, I don’t board and wait for the next one.

lemon1974 SG

what usually happen is that when you take the first bus, the 2nd bus overtake.

when you took the 2nd bus and it seem like catching up with the first bus, then suddenly, it slow down and stop at every bus stop..

on 1/1/8, i was waiting for Sv 269 near my house. Iris show 15 mins and 17 mins. when getting nearer, iris show arriving and arriving even though 104K arrived first. i boarded it and at the next bus stop 156K overtook it and i never see it then. And when i reach AMK Int, 156K was alrd picking up passengers. Both 104K and 156K were quite empty though.

Acx1688 SG

From wat i gather, buses "leap-frog" due to congestions at traffic junctions and bus stop loading factor.
Many a time, esp for sv196. due to the heavy load factor in CBD area n frequent jams, the 2nd bus will overtake the 1st bus...
Passengers need to be alert and be smart... OPEN your eyes.
Jus on 31/12/2007, Lavender Street bus stop[opp ICA building] twds Toa Payoh, a fully seated svc145 came into the bus bay, the crowd surge to board the bus! but they did not see the 2nd sv145 juz 2 buses behind.
Passengers should note that buses leave the interchange at regular intervals so if they wait a long time, they WILL probably be another one behind... Wink
Anyway, Transport Review for Public Transport coming out soon...

carbikebus SG

Originally posted by Oceane:
[b]Of long waits and 'leap-frogging' buses

I RIDE SMRT bus service 980 frequently. As if the usual waiting time of 15 minutes was not already long enough, on the night of Dec 21, I ended up having to wait 34 minutes for TIB909L (let's call this Bus 1) to arrive, en route to the Sembawang Interchange. The stated frequency of arrival is 13 to 17 minutes between 7pm and 8pm.
As I expected, after such a long wait, the bus was already packed when it arrived. One would have expected the travel pace to pick up to make up for lost time, but that was not to be.

Along the way, the bus filled up with even more passengers, and eventually, had to deny commuters at at least two bus stops. Some of these passengers had also probably waited as long as I had for the bus.

Bus 1 continued at its unspectacular pace for much of my journey, until it was overtaken by another service 980 (TIB673R - call it Bus 2), which went swiftly past and was not seen again for the rest of my trip. It appears I would have arrived home sooner if I had waited even longer for Bus 2.

I have seen this type of 'leap-frogging' practice many times before, and I have come to expect it whenever I have to wait an inordinately long time for buses to arrive. I deduce that for some reason, this 'leap-frogging' is needed to ensure that Bus 2 arrives at the interchange before Bus 1, and Bus 1 has to reduce its pace for Bus 2 to catch up, which would explain the scenario above. I have also noticed this practice on SMRT service 167, and also on SBS Transit bus services. It appears that this is prevalent in our public bus system.

I would like to hear from the bus service operators and relevant authorities, as to why such 'leap-frogging' has to be applied, and if these organisations are even aware of its existence. Bus fares have gone up almost without fail in the recent past. When are commuters going to enjoy an appreciable improvement in waiting times for buses?

Peter Wee Teik Hui

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_191669.html

Rolling Eyes [/b]

You complain to MP also no use.980 plies almost heavy traffic/Passenger areas.I've drive it before and i know better.673 is the 2nd bus behind 909L.

TIB1224Y SG

SBS Transit's site has a beautiful graphic explaining how it works, the so-called 'leap frogging' and such.
Last time, not too long ago, I used to be very frustrated at such things, but now, a simple look at the iBOS or DDU would denote whether you are dreaming or the BC is at fault. Even timings there can be wrong there too, so checking with the time sheet would do best. Of course at your own discreet lah...