Well, I think although this is an open forum for all to discuss
about things related to Singapore buses, the least we should do is to post
responsibly and sensibly so that there is a basis for amicable and
purposeful discussion.
As the saying goes, if everyone takes the good ones, who would take
the bad ones?
Looking through this thread, I personally feel:
1) As sbs_boy had pointed out, those 18 seater buses would be best.
Hardly anyone would complain about seats being too crammed. But try
putting them on high demand services during peak hour, and that
includes svc 151. Next thing we know is that the same people start complaining about
unable to board the bus and starts another thread about too few bus
seats. Let's say the bus companies decide to improve and spend more
money on these buses. Bus fares go up as a result. The same people start complaining the bus
fares increase.
Given the choice, would you want to tahan being crammed but able to
board the next bus or a very spacious seat after waiting for like 1
hour during your daily commmute? Of course, the same group of people will start
blaming the PTC, LTA, SBST, SMRT and whoever else for the fare
increase and yet they have to wait one hour for their bus. The bus
companies can put in more buses, but with twice the number of buses
on the roads, jams at bus stops, major roads and thus bunching of
the same service is bound to occur. Not to mention the chaos at the
bus interchanges. Again, the same group would start complaining.
Its a never ending cycle for 100% sastifaction.
2) One has to look at the demographic and economic situation of
Singapore. Don't forget that when these MkIIs were procured, it was
in response to the MRT system that was just being launched. These
MkIIs were meant to be used on high capacity, high demand routes.
In that time, passengers would probably be happy to squeeze onboard
the bus and get a seat on what was then a spanking new bus as
compared to the B57s etc. The Volvo MkIIs then featured
revoluntionary design and technology. Similarly, 17 years down the
road, the same people
might complain about B9TLs breaking down here, falling apart there
and so lao pok.
3) For goodness sake, one problem that had plaqued this forum and
caused much flaming and confusion among participants is the lack
for specifics. Granted, the ordinary joe might not know the
difference between a mkII and mkIV, but as someone as so correctly
pointed out in the papers, they seem to remember the registration
crystal clear when they lose something on board, down to the suffix
of the rego; but when they complain they give sweeping specifics,
of which the bus companies would be hard pressed to solve the
problem. Of course they cannot take out the whole fleet to inspect.
When they do, the same
people complain to the company and demand why is the poor frequency
and start the bus fare hike issue all over again.
Thanks for reading and have a good week ahead.
