Tibs brand to make way for SMRT's
by Christopher Tan
IF YOU see a Tibs bus, take a good look at it. It may be one of the
last times you see that yellow and orange carriage.
The name Trans-Island Bus, or Tibs, will be dropped soon. Train
operator SMRT Corp, Tibs' parent company, will replace it with its
own name and its corporate colours of red, black and grey,
completing its 2001 takeover.
Tibs was started by sportsman-entrepreneur Ng Ser Miang in 1982,
soon after the Government said it wanted a competitor for giant
SBS.
It started operations in 1983 with 37 buses plying two services in
Yishun and Sembawang. It was a David muscling in on Goliath then,
with the company eking out an early existence in cargo
containers-turned-offices.
Growth came from the expansion of new Housing Board towns as well
as transfers of SBS routes.
In 1987, Tibs was publicly listed. When it became part of SMRT, it
had about 70 routes, about one-third of SBS'.
The 'merger' followed a call from the Government for transport
operators to be 'multi-modal', so as to provide seamless
travel.
But SMRT chief executive Saw Phaik Hwa said the merger might not
have been totally necessary.
At the time of union, though, former SMRT chairman Chew Choon Seng
said it was to 'facilitate the meshing of bus and train services,
shorten overall travel time, encourage usage of public transport
and enhance revenue growth'.
Ms Saw told The Straits Times: 'Logistically, a totally seamless
transport system doesn't work... Each time the train comes, it's
1,000-over people getting off. You can't have buses waiting for
1,000-over people. They'd jam up the whole bus stop.'
Realistically, the scenario would be 'get off, wait a few minutes,
and get on'.
'That is the model,' she said. 'So being one company or being two
companies really doesn't have any material effects.'
So why did SMRT pay $194 million for Tibs?
'I don't know the full rationale behind the acquisition. My
priority is now to maximise the situation,' Ms Saw said, explaining
that her task is to optimise synergy between the two
companies.
And she is pleased that two years after taking over Tibs,
integration with SMRT has finally taken place.
Backroom operations, such as finance, human resource and
information technology, have all been merged.
The final piece to be put in place is the name change, which will
affect about 800 Tibs buses and more than 2,000 taxis.
But Ms Saw said the change would be done gradually and
cost-effectively.
From Straits Times Interactive (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg)
