As the leading public transport operator in Singapore, SBS Transit has a special duty to be a responsible corporate citizen and we have shown repeatedly through the years that we have heart too. Over the years, we have contributed to the community in many ways that can be categorised into the four main areas:
SBS Transit Raises Funds for Needy Children
Some 70 SBS Transit senior management staff and Ngee Ann Polytechnic students took to the backbreaking task of sweeping and mopping the interior of single and double deck buses, all for the sake of raising funds for needy children. In all, 65 buses were cleaned and $3,000 was raised for charity.
SBS Transit Executive Director, Mr Ong Boon Leong said: This is a meaningful partnership with the students which is very much in line with our direction in corporate social responsibility. It is also in our plans for our employees to increasingly be more involved in such community programmes so that together, the company and staff can do much more in partnership in serving the community.
In a separate event, SBST Transit also sponsored a double-deck bus in support of non-profit organisation I Love Children.
This cheery orange double deck, with its interior fitted with furniture and furnishings, is the first of its kind here. The lower deck has been decorated as a babys room, while the top deck houses a resource library with books, films and many other resources on parenthood and related topics. It also has a multi-purpose area that snugly seats 20 persons with audio-visual equipment to be used for expert talks and film screenings.
From now until February next year, the I Love Children bus will make stops at 36 locations islandwide.
|
Heart Bus
|
|
SBS Transit has been a keen supporter of the President’s Challenge. Since 2002, our iconic Heart Buses have been plying the road every year with signatures of well-wishers from corporate and public donors. To date, the Heart Bus project has raised about $2.5 million for the less fortunate including beneficiaries like Rainbow Centre, Pathlight School and Community Chest. On behalf of the beneficiaries, SBS Transit extends a big Thank You to all donors for their kind donations.
|
|
|
Heart Bus 2002 |
|
Heart Bus 2003
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Heart Bus 2006 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Heart Bus 2004 |
|
Heart Bus 2005 |
|
|
|
The Wishing Tree
In 2002, SBS Transit organised The Wishing Tree project to help raise funds for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. Commuters were asked to help decorate the Wishing Tree at 15 bus interchanges by buying Wishing Cards that allowed them to make wishes. The project raised $35,000.
Public Transport Fund
SBS Transit has donated to the Public Transport Fund generously. In 2003, when Singaporeans were experiencing difficult economic conditions caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), we donated $1 million to the Public Transport Fund that was initiated by the National Trades Union Congress and the Community Development Councils to help needy families cope with transport costs.
In 2005, we did it again with a $1.15 million donation to help the needy cope with the fare revision. Apart from donation, we also introduced other measures to help mitigate the fare revision:
- Extension of concessionary hours for senior citizens to start from 9am on weekdays and to last the whole day on Saturdays and Sundays
- Child and student fares were kept unchanged
- Continue to keep the maximum fare cap for any single trip on our bus network at $1.90
In all, the relief package for the fare revision in 2005 cost us $3.45 million.
Fare Collection from Rail
In our bid to do something for the residents living along the north-east corridor, we donated our first Sunday’s fare collection on the North East Line (NEL) to the 24 Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC) along NEL. A total of $165,000 was collected and distributed equally to the CCCs to help them fund community events for their residents.
We did the same when Sengkang LRT and Punggol LRT started revenue service. About $58,000 from the first the LRTs’ first week’s collection was donated to Sengkang Town Centre Community Club, Punggol Citizen’s Community Club and Anchorvale Community Club.
Thank You Commuters Day
SBS Transit is appreciative of the support that our commuters have been giving us all these years. Besides rolling out new bus services and enhancing our operations to better serve the commuters, we also thank our commuters through our yearly “Thank You Commuters Day” event. Since 1999, we have been dedicating a day in the year where our senior management give out freebies to our commuters.
 |
|
In 2005, our senior management donned Santa Claus suits to give away 20,000 packets of chocolates to our commuters at selected bus interchanges and the NEL. Other freebies given out in previous years include rice and concert tickets. |
Safety Education Programme
| We place great emphasis on our commuters’ safety. To increase the safety awareness related to the use of escalators, SBS Transit launched an education programme with popular television host, Ms Quan Yi Feng, as our Safety Ambassador.
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
Life sized posters of the TV star were put in all NEL stations and regular announcements were made to remind commuters of the proper way to use the escalator, and to encourage the elderly and disabled to use the lifts. |
We also conduct regular educational talks at schools and community centres to educate commuters about the safety on-board buses and at bus-stops.
Familiarisation Tour
Before the NEL, Sengkang LRT and Punggol LRT opened their gates for revenue service, SBS Transit organised tours for the senior citizens, students and grassroots representatives from the surrounding neighbourhoods at the various stations to help them familiarize themselves with the station and train facilities.
Learning Journeys Programme
SBS Transit participates in the Learning Journey Programme by organising educational trips for primary and secondary school to our workshops. The visits are aimed to help broaden the mental horizons of students and contribute to their total development.
Heritage-on-the-Move
We sponsored a bus for the National Heritage Board’s project called the “Heritage-on-the-Move”. The bus was refurbished into a mobile classroom and made rounds to schools and community centres in 2003. The classroom-on-wheels allowed school children to board the bus to view interactive exhibits, animations and big storybooks, making history lessons come alive.