Extract from Today 29th Oct 2005
Not always cost effective to have most direct bus
route
Letter from LOH CHOW KUANG
Secretary, Public Transport Council
WE REFER to Mr Benny Tien's letter "Are bus operators
taking commuters for a ride?" on Oct 20. .
The Public Transport Council (PTC) is an independent body that
regulates bus services and also bus and train fares in
Singapore.
.
PTC is required to balance commuters' interests with the long-term
viability of the public transport operators, and to ensure that the
costs of public transport provision are managed and fares remain
affordable to the general public.
.
Basic bus operators (SBS Transit and SMRT Buses) are responsible
for providing a comprehensive and efficient network of daily
scheduled services within their areas of responsibility.
.
In particular, the operators are required to comply with the
quality of service standards stipulated by the PTC and to seek
PTC's approval to introduce a new service or to amend or withdraw
an existing service.
.
To safeguard commuters' interests, the PTC has from time to time
directed the bus operators to revise or withdraw their proposals
for bus route changes.
.
The PTC has also required the operators to provide bus services to
less developed areas even though the services may not be
profitable.
.
Mr Tien has asked why some trunk services take longer routes.
.
We wish to clarify that the directness of bus routes was measured
using a proxy, by comparing the one-way, terminal-to-terminal
distance of a bus route with that of the shortest route by
car.
.
In practice, most commuters do not travel from one terminal to
another.
.
While the average one-way distance of trunk bus services is about
18km, the average travelling distance of bus passengers is only
about one third of this.
.
Public transport caters to the masses and passenger demand and trip
distribution vary widely across the island.
.
It is therefore, not always practical and cost effective to provide
every commuter with the most direct bus service.
.
Route deviations are sometimes necessary, to better serve the
commuters in certain areas.
.
In fact, commuters often request for an existing bus service to be
diverted closer to their origin/destination.
.
In the absence of a direct link and where a transfer is necessary,
the existing fare structure facilitates this by providing for a
transfer rebate to minimise the cost of making the transfer.
.
We assure Mr Tien that we will continue to ensure the bus operators
improve on the current bus network.
How they ensure this??? Talk is
cheap.
.
Mr Tien and members of the public may direct any further queries or
feedback to PTC's feedback e-mail address at
[email protected]
.
We also invite them to visit our website at www.ptc.gov.sg for more
information.
.
We thank Mr Tien for his feedback and the opportunity to
clarify.
Letter from LOH CHOW KUANG
Secretary, Public Transport Council
