Plans To Boost Capacity Of Bus System
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http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Transport/Story/A1Story20110609-283121.html
COMMUTERS will soon be able to beat the public-transport crunch during rush hour, thanks to a slew of measures to be rolled out in the coming months.
The measures, which aim to tackle overcrowding, will start with a significant increase in the capacity of Singapore's public-bus system, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.
He was speaking to reporters at the commencement of tunnelling works for the Beauty World MRT Station in Upper Bukit Timah Road.
Mr Lui explained that, because of the longer gestation period for rail and rail-related projects, buses will be a "matter of high priority in the coming months".
Buying a train takes three to four years, while putting a new MRT line in place takes seven to eight years due to the complexities involved, he said.
Top on the list of measures is a smartphone app that will tell commuters not only when a bus will arrive, but also how crowded the bus is.
The information will appear on mobile devices in a colour- coded format, Mr Lui said.
For example, green could mean that commuters are likely to be able to find seats on the bus, while amber could mean there is only standing room, and red would tell commuters that the bus is packed.
This would help commuters make more informed decisions on their transportation routes, he said.
Mr Lui also plans to deploy empty buses to more bus stops that tend to see higher human traffic.
This move has been an ongoing practice of bus operators, to enable more commuters to get on board.
For example, SMRT deploys empty buses along 38 bus routes to ensure that passengers waiting along the route can board the bus during peak hours, a spokesman said.
Mr Lui plans to work closely with bus operators to systematically determine more congestion hot spots.
He said that increasing the capacity of the bus system, or tackling overcrowding on buses, would be a "cautious and gradual process" if left to operators alone.
"It is necessary for the Government to work together with the operators, so that we can (increase) this capacity in a very timely fashion," Mr Lui said.
More concrete plans will be revealed in due course, he added.
Overcrowding on buses, as well as MRT trains, has been a hot-button issue in Singapore. Commuters have complained of long waits, in some instances having to wait for several buses to pass before being able to get on board during peak hours.
Mr Lui has been spotted taking the bus and the MRT on two separate occasions since becoming Transport Minister last month.
Yesterday, he rode on the LRT for a loop trip from Choa Chu Kang station during the morning peak period, along with Member of Parliament Liang Eng Hwa. While he had a "comfortable ride", Mr Lui said he was aware of the frequent LRT breakdowns.
He said: "(The Land Transport Authority) has been coming down on SMRT to make sure that they put in all the necessary effort to try and improve this.
"I think we can still do more."
While Mr Lui said that there will be associated "holding and opportunity costs" in meeting the demand for more buses, he added that "if we don't meet the demand, there is a certain social cost associated with it".
"We ought to be able to do better in this regard."
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nice move by him.. not like Raymond Lim and YCT..
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finally we have a transport minister who talks sense. gives concrete ideas instead of pursuing superfluous projects like free skies treaty. benefit no one but SIA shareholders. lui tuck yew had been deputy secretary of transport immediately after retiring as chief of navy and prior to joining politics. i hope he knows what he is doing.
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Let's hope this means that SBS will buy more Citaros or get the MAN Lion City.
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He is getting ready for another few million commuters in the next few years.
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Absurd. Totally absurd.
So what if there's an application about buses having empty seats? I mean what if all buses reflected are full? Are people going to be patient? And how many buses to skip before they're sastisfied? 3 or 4 just because they can't tolerate?
Mr Lui also plans to deploy empty buses to more bus stops that tend to see higher human traffic.
How much does that help, really, No matter how packed that area with, be it CBDs, Upp bukit timah road etc, If it is going to pack, it is going to. No matter what. We can't escape these. Even if I deploy 5 bendies straight in a row, If people are going to be choosy, they will complain. -
There are some operational constraints the PTOs face which LTY may or may not know when he was interviewed yesterday. First on the agenda is manpower and bus lifespan requirements. If LTY can help tackle these 2 areas successfully, it will be a smoother road for him to take in attaining whatever else he wants to do with the bus system.
right sbst275? -
Originally posted by service_238:
There are some operational constraints the PTOs face which LTY may or may not know when he was interviewed yesterday. First on the agenda is manpower and bus lifespan requirements. If LTY can help tackle these 2 areas successfully, it will be a smoother road for him to take in attaining whatever else he wants to do with the bus system.
right sbst275?
Lifespan has been extended. But in this case, it's going to be an issue as the MRT gets completed and it's likely by 2020, not tat many new devt is expected to be seen for new bus network.Manpower is another chronic issue.
Then comes to traffic condition. As long it's not resolved by force, you're not going to see any better bus freq.
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Originally posted by sir_peanuts:
finally we have a transport minister who talks sense. gives concrete ideas instead of pursuing superfluous projects like free skies treaty. benefit no one but SIA shareholders.
lui tuck yew had been deputy secretary of transport immediately after retiring as chief of navy and prior to joining politics. i hope he knows what he is doing.
sure or not?Foreign carriers can fly in as well, not just SIA tat benefits.
Dun forget, SIA does not have domestic market to rely on.
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double decks is another one
Right now, ppl dun make full use of it by no moving to upper deck. So deploy liao also useless.
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Originally posted by sbst275:
double decks is another one
Right now, ppl dun make full use of it by no moving to upper deck. So deploy liao also useless.
deploy SMRT announcement system :
"Please move to the upper deck for the convenience of all passengers." -
Originally posted by buses[IN]gapore!:
deploy SMRT announcement system :
"Please move to the upper deck for the convenience of all passengers."Hahaha, thats a good one.
But anyway, i feel that sbst can do a analysis on the travel patterns of passengers using information of when they tap in and tap out. For example, if most of the passengers takes the svc for only a few stops, then theres really not much reason to deploy a DD. In that case, use of SD + increased frequency will likely help to improve the situation better. Otherwise, use of DD might help.
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Originally posted by Bus Stopping:
Hahaha, thats a good one.
But anyway, i feel that sbst can do a analysis on the travel patterns of passengers using information of when they tap in and tap out. For example, if most of the passengers takes the svc for only a few stops, then theres really not much reason to deploy a DD. In that case, use of SD + increased frequency will likely help to improve the situation better. Otherwise, use of DD might help.
like tis e poly bus svs wun qualify alrdy.dun make sense either
lol
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Capacity can still be improved...
eg sv196 evening[bet 1745 - 1915] 12-15mins a bus, DD comes, too packed...
After that time slot, you will see 4 sv196[3DDs,1 SD] within 10mins...
This will be followed by a DD 7mins later...another DD 9 mins later...
This is happening every week day
improper planningACx
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ST Prime section A10 Jun 9 2011
"As part of fleet renewal and expansion.SMRT buses, which has 960 buses, will bring in more than 100 12m, wheel-chair accessible buses by December"
ACx -
Originally posted by sbst275:
like tis e poly bus svs wun qualify alrdy.dun make sense either
lol
Depends how u look at it ba, i think this is more useful towards intratown/feeder services. On some services pax will tend to take it all the way to interchange. On the some other services they just take a few stops and drop off somewhere, e.g. near a mrt station.
On most of the sch services, its just better to throw in DDs whenever possible as it will give some buffer. Reason being that its hard to determine when the peak of the students will arrives/depart accurately.
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Originally posted by service_238:
There are some operational constraints the PTOs face which LTY may or may not know when he was interviewed yesterday. First on the agenda is manpower and bus lifespan requirements. If LTY can help tackle these 2 areas successfully, it will be a smoother road for him to take in attaining whatever else he wants to do with the bus system.
right sbst275?
I think another barrier to abolish is the territory rule. At least let SBST run some new routes in North and Northwest if SMRT is unable to.
Originally posted by Acx1688:ST Prime section A10 Jun 9 2011
"As part of fleet renewal and expansion.SMRT buses, which has 960 buses, will bring in more than 100 12m, wheel-chair accessible buses by December"
ACx
SBST is also bringing in more than 630 buses for the next 2 years. Currently they have about 3000 buses in its fleet.
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LTA to deploy empty buses, example service 31 has this 31A, u turn some where near bedok south ave 3 to help to fetch people before the actual service 31come and it alway full. what bus service company should do is to has more semi-express bus service like 74E on some service like 57 143 162 851 7 etc, service that pass by the city area to housing estate, which can help MRT to beat the public-transport crunch during rush hour and to meet the demand of weekend crowd. If both transport company cannot meet the demand then LTA should open the semi-express service sector to other bus companies. LTA should make sure premium services by bus operators can meet the demand of rush hour. LTA should do a review on premium bus service monthly. LTA should allow bus operators to operate the service to full capacity meaning 7 days a week and whole day. those lower demand service should remove. I hope Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew try out the premium service operate by PTE companies other then SBS or SMRT. to see how good the service is. some of them might not be as good as what people think.
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how low demand are u referring to?
Industrial services 25 mins a bus is hardly 20% loaded.
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One way is to re-deploy some svc 196 buses to start mid-trip; ie start from Cantonment/Anson Rd instead. Also, these deployment must be carefully timed to intecept the crush demand.Originally posted by Acx1688:
Capacity can still be improved...
eg sv196 evening[bet 1745 - 1915] 12-15mins a bus, DD comes, too packed...
After that time slot, you will see 4 sv196[3DDs,1 SD] within 10mins...
This will be followed by a DD 7mins later...another DD 9 mins later...
This is happening every week day
improper planningACx