Hey, i stumbled upon this article today morning on the Straits
Times forum and can't help but to agree with it. It talks about how
SMRT is not doing well in the area of provision of bus services,
and also how its fare hikes is not justified. Well, thought i just
post it here to get the opinion of the bus community and also maybe
some of you can do something about it?
SMRT found lacking when it comes
to public bus improvements
THE articles on bus services (ST, Nov 1) reflect the recent
improvements made. But it has come to my attention though that the
benefits shown do not benefit the entire population.
1. I refer to the article, 'Elderly-friendly buses hit the road'.
It must be noted that the buses are operated by SBS Transit, which
does not operate services in the Northwest Corridor towns of Bukit
Batok, Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang. These towns are operated by
SMRT which has not announced any plans to introduce new buses. In
fact, SMRT operates a whole fleet of elderly- and
handicapped-unfriendly buses. Some of these are old, like the
Nissan buses frequently on Service 975, and others are in very bad
condition, like the Scania buses on Service 187. These buses have
high steps and are not very environmentally friendly (compare these
buses to SBS's 500 new buses). It is sad to see disabled commuters
unable to board and the elderly struggling to board. It raises the
question: When will SMRT buy new buses to add to the existing
fleet? How long will it take for the old buses to be
replaced?
2. I now refer to the article, 'Bus routes up 22% from 5 years
ago'. Again, it should be noted that the bus routes' increased
coverage is due mainly to SBS' good work, not SMRT Buses'. Over the
course of the last five years, SMRT has made a few enhancements to
some of its services such as the introduction of Service 950 to
Johor, extension of service 975 to Bukit Panjang and amendments to
Service 985. Conversely, compared to its counterpart, SMRT is not
doing enough. SMRT Buses diverts its resources to the Premium and
Shuttle bus services but what about the basic services used by the
majority? In the last five years, no new services, except the minor
enhancements, have been initiated in the Northwest Corridor Towns.
The connectivity of these towns to the Eastern region of Singapore
is very limited. When given feedback, SMRT tells its commuters to
use the trains services. If SBS, which operates trains too, is able
to introduce many new bus services, why not SMRT?
Minister Raymond Lim had said that the fare increases are necessary
as the bus operators need the income to purchase new buses while
introducing new services. This reason is more justified for bus
operator SBS. As a daily customer of SMRT, I appeal to SMRT to
provide better connectivity, buses and services to its customers
just as SBS Transit commendably is doing.
-name deleted-
SOURCE: http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/ST%2BForum.html
