Used ad nauseam by various quarters in our Government, the term has come to signify the failures of our PAP government in meeting the challenges of laying down a well connected and convenient transport system for Singaporeans. This failure is thrown into sharp relief by the great strides that other competitors like Hong Kong have made in the same area. 5 years since the term was first used as an aspiration, public commuters like myself still face a litany of problems when using our trains and buses. I’d like to share a few here:
Punctuality or the lack thereof…
I seriously don't understand why SBS cannot keep their buses arriving on time given Singapore’s small size. And I'm not even talking about peak hours here.
Just yesterday (Monday), I had to wait for close to 15 mins for bus service no. 70. Today, the waiting time was 18 mins. And mind you, I experience such delays not just for this service no. Other notorious services include 36 (30 min waiting time is not uncommon), 14 (it didn't even arrive after 45 mins on 1 occasion), 132 (breaks the record for its 1 hr waiting time) and 64 (perennially long waiting time despite the heavy usage at Eunos).
The chronic problem of long waiting time baffles me given the many measures that the LTA has been implementing including full-day bus lanes and priority signals for buses at traffic lights. Even more baffling is that the delays occur throughout the day, not just during peak hours. Contrast this with Sydney, Tokyo or Hong Kong where buses adhere strictly to their scheduled time and you get the full picture of the state of our bus transport system. As I am typing this I'm sitting at the bus stop outside Suntec Carrefour waiting for the past 10 mins for bus 111 and as I wait, three bus service nos. 97 have passed by.
Overcrowding and the Train Load Argument
There are times when taking buses, I would think we were in India where overcrowding on trains with scenes of commuters hanging out of train doors we often see on the news. The only difference here is that we Singaporeans hang on for dear life on the steps at the bus entrance. Such chronic overcrowding is a common sight on bus service nos. 16, 64 and 80 during peak hours. I am certain there are other service nos. with the same problem.
Overcrowding is a perennial and chronic problem on our trains also and it is a situation that our transport policy makers seem unwilling or unable to wake up to. Try taking the NEL from Dhoby Ghaut to Punggol in the evenings between 7 and 8 pm on weekdays. Or the east-west line during the morning peak hrs starting from 7.30 am. In Hong Kong, trains arrive at 1 min frequencies. Here, I can't believe our train operators are quibbling over reducing the waiting time to 3 mins and in fact, taking much pride in doing so as if we commuters owe it to them!
And the train load argument that our public transport operators like to posit really irks me to no end. Hello, we are not cattle! And how is train load calculated anyway? I wonder if SMRT or SBS adopts the simplistic and erroneous approach of adding the number of people entering the station every 2 minute regardless of which direction commuters are taking the train to. I say erroneous because this method ignores the fact that 90% of these commuters could be taking the train in just one direction, i.e. towards the city. If you want to see this argument at work, go to Dhoby Ghaut at 8.30 am. The train that goes towards Orchard has ample seating and standing space. Not the one that goes towards Raffles Place that is perpetually packed to the brim. The picture below shows how bad the situation is.
The train towards Raffles Place during the morning peak hour.
Northeast Line in the evening.
Gee…Did these drivers pass their driving test?
You would think that driving a mammoth vehicle on the road as your job would over time make you a skilful driver. Unfortunately, this logic doesn't seem to hold for many SBS drivers who seem to be fresh out of driving school. Countless times I have had the misfortune of riding on buses which jerks throughout the journey. Singaporeans must either have a high threshold of tolerance for discomfort or a low expectation of what constitutes good service to let such bad driving persist on our buses.
Delay No More!
Just two weeks ago, as I ascended onto the ticketing platform from the train at Kovan, I saw a notice pinned near escalator proclaiming: “Shuttle services are available at the bus stop this direction during service disruptions.”
The first thought that came to my mind when I saw this was: is SBS Transit or the LTA telling us that service disruptions is going to be part and parcel of life on the NEL warranting the need to make those signs and put them at every exit points of every NEL station?
I have tried to keep track of the number of service disruptions on both the NEL and the SMRT lines but unfortunately, I have not succeeded, partly because some of the disruptions take place outside off-peak hours or are not reported.
Suffice to say however, judging from anecdotal evidence gathered from my friends, there seems to be an increase in the number of such disruptions, particularly on the SMRT lines.
From 2005 to 2007, the North-South-East-West Line and North-East Line had a total of 66 incidents with train disruption of more than 10 minutes, of which 19 lasted for more than 30 minutes. Of course, this does not include the major 7-hour breakdown in January this year, which saw SMRT being hit with a S$400,000 fine, which really is probably just a few months’ pay for its CEO.
Delay No More!
Just two weeks ago, as I ascended onto the ticketing platform from the train at Kovan, I saw a notice pinned near escalator proclaiming: “Shuttle services are available at the bus stop this direction during service disruptions.”
The first thought that came to my mind when I saw this was: is SBS Transit or the LTA telling us that service disruptions is going to be part and parcel of life on the NEL warranting the need to make those signs and put them at every exit points of every NEL station?
I have tried to keep track of the number of service disruptions on both the NEL and the SMRT lines but unfortunately, I have not succeeded, partly because some of the disruptions take place outside off-peak hours or are not reported.
Suffice to say however, judging from anecdotal evidence gathered from my friends, there seems to be an increase in the number of such disruptions, particularly on the SMRT lines.
From 2005 to 2007, the North-South-East-West Line and North-East Line had a total of 66 incidents with train disruption of more than 10 minutes, of which 19 lasted for more than 30 minutes. Of course, this does not include the major 7-hour breakdown in January this year, which saw SMRT being hit with a S$400,000 fine, which really is probably just a few months’ pay for its CEO.
The 7-hours disruption in January this year
(Picture Source: The Straits Times)
On my own, I have encountered three service disruptions on the NEL in the past 2 years, 2 of which took place in April and May this year. I have written in to LTA to ask for the reasons for this disruption but as expected with most bureaucrats, particularly those from this agency, I didn’t get a conclusive response other than that the LTA was working with SBS on investigating the case of the breakdowns.
Let me state categorically: Service disruptions are a major headache for us commuters who are constantly harangued by the Government to give up cars and take public transport.
With the ever burgeoning population of Singapore, augmented by the increasing number of foreigners entering the country at the PAP Government’s behest, usage of our trains and buses will definitely increase. This is evidenced by the large hordes of people descending on our train and bus stations every morning and evening. What this means is that in a 2-hour peak period, there is a constant stream of people making their way to the trains every minute. A mere delay of just 1 minute, trust me, creates a backlog of people just waiting the board the next train that comes along. Multiply this by the number of stations both upstream and downstream, you see the grim picture. Perhaps our policy makers really don’t see the scale of the problem because they travel to work in their private cars.
The Doors…
Finally I come to the doors of our trains. The doors…that’s right. Those of you who take the train will know that for some strange reason, our SMRT drivers can’t seem to align the train doors with the platform doors when they stop at a station. This effectively reduces the entrance by almost a quarter and in a worst case scenario, by half.
On my own, I have encountered three service disruptions on the NEL in the past 2 years, 2 of which took place in April and May this year. I have written in to LTA to ask for the reasons for this disruption but as expected with most bureaucrats, particularly those from this agency, I didn’t get a conclusive response other than that the LTA was working with SBS on investigating the case of the breakdowns.
Let me state categorically: Service disruptions are a major headache for us commuters who are constantly harangued by the Government to give up cars and take public transport.
With the ever burgeoning population of Singapore, augmented by the increasing number of foreigners entering the country at the PAP Government’s behest, usage of our trains and buses will definitely increase. This is evidenced by the large hordes of people descending on our train and bus stations every morning and evening. What this means is that in a 2-hour peak period, there is a constant stream of people making their way to the trains every minute. A mere delay of just 1 minute, trust me, creates a backlog of people just waiting the board the next train that comes along. Multiply this by the number of stations both upstream and downstream, you see the grim picture. Perhaps our policy makers really don’t see the scale of the problem because they travel to work in their private cars.
The Doors…
Finally I come to the doors of our trains. The doors…that’s right. Those of you who take the train will know that for some strange reason, our SMRT drivers can’t seem to align the train doors with the platform doors when they stop at a station. This effectively reduces the entrance by almost a quarter and in a worst case scenario, by half.
The picture here was taken on one of the occasions when the train ridiculously stopped with its doors exceeding the platform door by half the latter’s width! I am very very curious whenever I encounter this: don’t our policymakers or the train operators know of this problem? And if they know, can’t they do anything about it? I spent 2 weeks in Hong Kong where every station has platform doors (unlike ours!). Not once did I encounter such a ridiculous and bad driving skills!
Train door exceeds the platform door by half the latter’s width at City Hall station.
Well, so this concludes my Tirade Part I on our public transport system.
As you can see, I am a very very unhappy public transport user. Not because of the occasional inconvenience I have to put with such as delays or breakdowns. But because these problems seem to have become embedded into our public transport system exposing the imbecility and incompetence of our policymakers (read: LTA), SBS Transit and SMRT.
Seriously, whatever happened to the exacting standards that Singapore used to pride itself in during its heydays in the 80s or 90s? Whatever happened to the spirit of continuous improvement? Swiss standard of living? Don’t joke! The Swiss don’t have to put up with such crap!”
I think a better word to use on our Government really would be “self-delusion”. Period.
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