And those waiting for route 178 will seem like waiting for a bus
from another time. And it's not the future. 
Originally posted by MS:
hi all, I think I should post this becos I read abt the
displeasure in increased bus fares.
The increase in bus fares was largely due to the great increase in
oil prices. Do you all have any idea how much was spent solely on
fuel? I do not know the exact but the amount can fight with our
profit.
At the same time, the reason to buy new buses are because many old
buses are going to be scrapped. And before they are scrapped, new
buses must be introduced. Otherwise there will be one day when
suddenly not enough buses. And when new buses are introduced, we
need to train the BC to learn how to operate these buses. And the
'engineering boys' (Ong BL likes to call us) are going to be the
lot to suffer the most. We gotta learn how to maintain these new
sophisticated buses correctly.
The increase in bus fares proportionally cannot be compared to the
much higher increase in the average salaries of our fellow
Singaporeans.
Also part of the increase was also due to some passengers who make
cheap themselves; Vandalism, beh deh pretend by scanning the exit
BXP immediately going on board the bus or within lesser stops. Last
time still got the fare card that time everyone pay 60cents for a
$1.00 ride. Now got terrorism, higher demand also.
We are a purely private company. That means every loss and profit
we swallow ourselves. When we make profit, we thank the community
and the employees for their efforts. When we make a loss, no one is
going to sympathise with us.
And don't forget since we're completely a private company, [b]why
no one mention about the heavy subsidised bus fares for students
and senior citizens and NSF that we dig out of our own
pockets? Becos we've been doing it for so many years now
people take it for granted?! To put it bluntly, even if SBST or
SMRT is going to standardise fares to $2 per trip, no one can sue
us. Not even MP can do anything if we dun want. But the
transportation companies are not going to do that because we want
to continue this tradition of helping the community.
I keep hearing '...before SBS going to increase bus fares again...'
sacarstically. I find these people need to re-consider their pt of
view and learn how the bus companies runs.
Cost savings is 1 of my KPI in the line of my work. I can guarantee
you that SLWS is trying every bit to save on cost yet squeeze the
best to put on the road. Lifespan extension of our equipments yet
cannot breakdown. Use after market or self designed parts yet must
put our heads on the chopping boards to take accountability to
ensure no one dies or get hurt. Not even get hurt, if the bus got
smoke case, we will make compensation then tender the resignation
and make apology. In short, we say make the impossible become a
reality.
How many people understand our pains. I must say many people
understand. But yet there are still some minorities who keep
ranting the unreasonable as though they are entitled to everything
in the world taking all for granted.[/b]
Allow me to add my two peas (don't like saying two cents
) to that. I personally feel that low fares and the
overreacting public when it comes to issues like this has actually
eaten into the service quality of public transportation here (taxis
excluded). I can already see SBS Transit trying hard to provide
quality service while cutting costs without cutting into corners -
buses generally are well maintained, even older buses that should
be long gone by now. Yet, also because of this, the finer details
often get shoved into the back room, things such as the colour of
the lights, mismatched seats and air-conditioning vents, and so on.
We can demand better, yes, but are we prepared to pay the price? If
you want beautiful, clean, and nice buses, with great bus drivers
who are courteous and helpful, and where everything is almost
perfection, like those in Hong Kong and Japan, then get ready to
pay the fares they are paying (and I assure you that their fares
are a few times above where we are right now). Bus companies need
the money to buy these things, and they need the money to conduct
training for new bus captains (and it's not just about driving
buses). As for SMRT, I personally feel that they have decided to
instead eat into quality and just care about profits. While I think
they should sacrifice some profits for better service quality,
however, I think this couldn't have happened if we are less
sensitive to fare hikes and be more understanding.
