While commuters are, by and large, satisfied with Singapores
public transport, many have a familiar complaint: The long wait for
a bus to arrive.
Out of every 10 public transport users, four are not satisfied with
the waiting times of buses. This is in spite of the fact that
nearly eight out of 10 say they are satisfied with public transport
in general.
According to a public transport customer satisfaction survey
conducted last year by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), 84 per
cent of 1,000 respondents were satisfied with bus and rail services
but this pertained more to Mass Rapid Transit than bus
services.
For bus commuters, waiting time and reliability of bus services
were important and had the most room for improvement among the 10
bus service attributes listed in the survey. Nearly 60 per cent of
commuters were satisfied with the waiting times, while two-thirds
of them found bus services reliable. Most of the other attributes,
such as comfort and customer service, were rated as satisfactory by
more than 70 per cent of commuters.
NSman Jesse Chan was not surprised by the findings. Waiting time
is acceptable for most bus services in Singapore but some seriously
need to work on their timings, he said.
The 19-year-old recounted how he had missed a few appointments
because of long waiting times as long as 30 minutes on one
occasion.
Bus operator SBS Transit said commuter dissatisfaction with waiting
times is to be expected because, unlike rail services, buses do not
have a dedicated right-of-way.
However, its executive director, Mr Ong Boon Leong, said SBS
Transit will work with the relevant authorities to address the
varying traffic conditions affecting the overall travel time,
waiting time and reliability of bus services, such as giving buses
greater priority on the road.
For example, its Intelligent Route Information System launched this
year, minimises anxiety caused by unknown waiting time and puts
commuters in better control of their journey time by providing
realtime bus arrival information on mobile phones and the
Internet.
In addition to such efforts by operators, Transport Minister
Raymond Lim told Parliament last month that the LTA will revive a
trial to provide bus commuters with real-time arrival data.
In collaboration with SBS Transit and SMRT, a real-time bus arrival
information system will be rolled out at about 30 bus stops in
areas such as Orchard, Ang Mo Kio and Sembawang by July.
Passengers can look forward to infopanels that show the date, time,
bus service number, predicted arrival times of the next two buses,
and any traffic disruptions.
The LTA is also funding TransitLinks development of an electronic
bus journey planner, in which commuters can gauge the best option
to get to a destination.
Quality manager Kelvin Koh, 27, welcomed the arrival of more
real-time travel information but hoped the authorities will still
look into speeding up waiting times.
It just manages expectations and allows passengers to plan routes
or take alternatives but it still does not solve the problem of
inconsistent bus timings. Its similar to real-time traffic
information on the expressway, he said.
The LTA has said it will continue to implement measures to give
greater priority to buses on the roads, such as the recent
expansion of the full-day bus lane scheme in five areas this
month.
It is also looking at bus stops having no bus bays so as to reduce
travelling and waiting time. A trial will start in Jalan Eunos in
2009.
The survey, the first on mass public transport services
commissioned by the LTA, replaces the Public Transport Councils
bus passenger satisfaction survey.
Overall, the top attributes commuters were most satisfied with
were: The accessibility and location of bus stops and MRT stations;
safety and security; and comfort.