This is not a complain thread, but I would like to share the
complain letter that I have mailed to SMRT regarding this. Details
in the letter.
Dear personnel in charge,
I would like to lodge complain against the driver of service 61,
shift 61PM18, vehicle number TIB1152X. The trip was on Sunday, 5th
November, 2006.
I boarded the bus opposite Sri Mariamman temple at South Bridge
Road, at 2308hrs. The driver drove slowly, which I was not
surprised at first, as he might be ahead of time. However, as the
bus was traveling along Alexandra Road, before Alexandra Hospital,
the speed dropped to around 20km/h, with the bus making a sickening
vibrating sound. I then felt that something was wrong.
When the bus left the stop outside Alexandra Hospital, I approached
the driver and asked him if there was anything wrong with the bus,
and why he was driving so slowly. He replied rather curtly that he
was following the timetable, and said loudly to me to sit down,
without any hint of apology. As the trip progressed on, other
commuters felt that the bus was moving really too slow. A few went
up front to ask, but was replied with the same tone that he was
only following the timetable.
As the bus reached Holland Road, the slow speed was even apparent
to more commuters, and another bus, TIB426M which the driver
claimed was running on the last shift, overtook us at the junction
of Holland Road and Sixth Avenue (the last bus departing from Eunos
Interchange was 2330hrs, and the time TIB426M overtook us was
2349hrs, how would the bus have covered 32 stages in 19 minutes?).
I asked him again about his time, and the fact that another bus
overtook was a serious breach to the companys regulations. He
rudely replied that he is following the timetable, and that he has
no wrong in this. When the bus stopped to take on passengers, I saw
on the timetable that the bus was to reach Bukit Batok Interchange
at 2355hrs, and by then the bus was at the junction of Ulu Pandan
Road and Clementi Road, the time was already 2357hrs, 2 minutes
behind scheduled time and another 15 minutes away from the
destination.
I said to the driver that he was behind time, then did he looked at
the timetable and mumbled to himself. I asked him politely why was
he keeping the commuters in the dark, with apparent knowledge that
the trip was behind schedule, he said that the company took him 6
minutes of his rest time, and that he was just trying to cover for
lost time (at the expense of the commuters time!). And he kept
insisting, in a loud tone, that I sit down. But with the driver
behind time, plus many other commuters on the bus was already
furious about this delay, I could not just sit down and do nothing.
I once again asked him why he is driving slowly despite being
behind time, he shouted at me, saying again that the company took
his rest time, so he had to drive slowly to cover up, and that the
company charges two dollars per one minute of early arrival to the
destination, and while this penalty is in force, no penalties are
present for drivers who were late! He would simply lose his rest
time, but that does not mean that he or any driver could be late,
as these are directly in conflict with the commuters time; one
minute lost is one minute of loss, no doubt in that!
After hearing his rude explanation, I felt that I could not just
continue on the trip, and alighted at Blk 288C, Bukit Batok East
Avenue 6, at 0009hrs, at that time the bus was 14 minutes behind
schedule. As I alighted, the driver shouted out that I was merely
threatening to complain, that he would not give any heck care to
this.
I would like the company to hold an investigation into this serious
case of driver impoliteness, obstructive driving, delay despite
clear acknowledgement of the timetable and telling lies to
commuters. This driver made the commuters very frustrated and
furious due to the delay, and several of them alighted early from
the bus because of this reason. The explanation that there would
not be any penalty to drivers who arrive late was unreasonable to
me; drivers can just drive slowly, knowing that he would sacrifice
his rest time, just for the comfort of driving slowly on the road?
Commuters are at the loss here, while we pay the fares, the drivers
did not improve their standards and keep commuters from knowing any
truth!
Hence this incident made me feel disgusted, both at the fallacy of
the drivers lies and the delay, even minutes, to the
commuters.
I would hope that the company can reply to me as soon as possible
regarding this case and measures done to the driver. My email is
[email protected]
Thank you.
