Squeeze!
According to recent reports in the papers, the Public Transport Council has said that buses here generally run on time and are not overcrowded, which is contrary to what public transport riders have experienced.
Firstly about the buses being too crowded, the PTC has made some valid points. They argued that it depends on what the individual actually experienced, for example the bus may not be too crowded in terms of its holding capacity but instead of moving to the rear, everyone insteads stands near the doors, which results in people in the front of the bus feeling the squeeze.
The thing Im upset about is the way how PTC tests the frequency of the buses. What PTC actually does is just making sure buses pull out of the interchanges at the sitpulated timings and not bothering whether they actually reach each individual bus stops along the way on time. And they again used the usual argument about the unpredictable traffic conditions when told that this doesnt not ensure buses reaches the other bus stops on time.
This is just totally unacceptable, what is the point of making sure the buses runs on time when you only make sure it leaves the interchange on time and it can be "on time" even if you waited for it for like 30mins at some bus stop halfway on the bus route. Even MRT are held to a standards of 2-3mins during moring and evening peak hours. Why cant similar standards be applied to buses? Like 10mins?
And what saddens me is what the PTC member said in the report. He said that PTC is here to balance the needs of the passengers and the commerical viability of the transport companies. I thought the aim of a regulator, watchdog is to protect the passengers' interest and fight for the best for the passengers. Clearly this isn't true here. Uniquely Singapore indeed.
Firstly about the buses being too crowded, the PTC has made some valid points. They argued that it depends on what the individual actually experienced, for example the bus may not be too crowded in terms of its holding capacity but instead of moving to the rear, everyone insteads stands near the doors, which results in people in the front of the bus feeling the squeeze.
The thing Im upset about is the way how PTC tests the frequency of the buses. What PTC actually does is just making sure buses pull out of the interchanges at the sitpulated timings and not bothering whether they actually reach each individual bus stops along the way on time. And they again used the usual argument about the unpredictable traffic conditions when told that this doesnt not ensure buses reaches the other bus stops on time.
This is just totally unacceptable, what is the point of making sure the buses runs on time when you only make sure it leaves the interchange on time and it can be "on time" even if you waited for it for like 30mins at some bus stop halfway on the bus route. Even MRT are held to a standards of 2-3mins during moring and evening peak hours. Why cant similar standards be applied to buses? Like 10mins?
And what saddens me is what the PTC member said in the report. He said that PTC is here to balance the needs of the passengers and the commerical viability of the transport companies. I thought the aim of a regulator, watchdog is to protect the passengers' interest and fight for the best for the passengers. Clearly this isn't true here. Uniquely Singapore indeed.
posted by yaogui at
10:56 PM
