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How do I use my Ez-link card correctly when travelling on buses?
For more information, please refer to the TransitLink website, http://www.transitlink.com.sg/info_usingbus.html.
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What are the bus and ticketing equipment breakdown procedures?
For more information, please refer to the TransitLink website, http://www.transitlink.com.sg/info_usingbus.html.
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Sometimes, two buses of the same service arrive at the same time with one bus being overcrowded and the other almost empty. Why?
The reason for this is largely due to adverse traffic conditions on the road and other conditions such as road closure, diversions, weather, accidents etc. Indeed, more than 70% of our delays or bunching are due to these reasons.
For example, assuming 3 buses started out being 10min apart which was sufficient to cater to the demand along the route (see below).
Bus 1 did not meet any problems and hence, was able to run on schedule. Bus 2 encountered a jam while Bus 3 did not encounter any problems. Hence, the time between Bus 1 and Bus 2 was lengthened, while the time between Bus 2 and Bus 3 was shortened (see below).
By taking more than its share of passengers Bus 2 slowed down as a result, while Bus 3 picked up fewer passengers which caused it to speed up. Bus 2 was thus caught in a vicious cycle that came to a head when the third bus caught up.
To the passenger on the ground, he would have waited 15min and it would seem that Bus 2 was crowded while Bus 3 was relatively empty. In the above situation, adding more buses is not a solution, as the same buses will end up being caught in the jam. More bunching will occur when they do eventually emerge from the traffic slowdown.
We assure our commuters that we try as far as possible to ensure that our buses arrive at regular intervals including adjusting the assignment of buses to suit real time conditions though there is a limit to how changes can be made.
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It is easier for me to alight from the
bus if I stand near the exit door, why should I move to the rear of the bus?
The capacity of a bus is a combination of its seating
and standing capacity. When passengers fail to move to the rear and prefer to stand
near the exit door, the flow of passengers becomes restricted within the bus. This
will cause delay as the Bus Captain would have to appeal to passengers to move in
to make space for others to board.
Not only is this tiring for the Bus Captain, it also causes delay to all passengers
on the bus as well as those wanting to take the bus along the route. We urge our passengers
to move to the rear to allow others to board the bus.
Likewise, we also urge our passengers to take the seat near the window if no one is
occupying and not put their belongings on any empty seats.
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Why does the Bus Captain drive
so slowly?
We hope commuters can appreciate that traffic conditions
on the road can vary. Our schedules, however, can only be planned to meet what is
usually the expected traffic condition at the various times of the day. There will
be times when the traffic conditions are unusually clear or congested and this often
results in buses being too early or late.
When traffic conditions are especially clear, our Bus Captains are required to regulate
speed if they notice that they are ahead of schedule. This ensures that the Bus Captains
keep the arrival times at the bus stops as close to the planned schedule as possible
to avoid any disruption like bus bunching.
From the perspective of the passengers on board the bus, the journey seems slow but
to the passengers waiting at the bus stops along the route, they expect their bus
to arrive on time as scheduled. Nonetheless, we will monitor our buses closely and
make appropriate adjustments to the running time when necessary.
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Can SBS Transit deploy more air-conditioned
buses?
Previously, the authority put a limit to the number
of air-conditioned buses we can own so as to give commuters a choice between taking
air-conditioned or non air-conditioned buses. Hence, we ended up buying more non air-conditioned
buses than air-conditioned buses. The limitation on the number of air-conditioned
buses has since been lifted and SBS Transit has committed to having a fully air-conditioned
bus fleet.
But as we have purchased more non air-conditioned buses in the past due to the limitation,
we must be prudent in the pace we replace the non air-conditioned buses to air-conditioned
ones as to keep cost low and fares affordable. To achieve that, the replacement of
the non-air-conditioned buses has to be done progressively. All non air-conditioned
buses that are in good serviceable condition will continue to be deployed and will
be replaced when they reach their statutory lives.
As it is, over 90% of SBS Transit's buses are already equipped with air-conditioning
and the number of non air-conditioned buses has been declining from 282 buses in 2003,
to 249 buses in 2004. This has been further reduced to 244 buses now. These buses
will be replaced eventually.
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Some
of the air-conditioned buses are either too cold or too warm. Why can�t the Bus Captain
adjust the temperature?
The Bus Captains are not able to adjust the temperature. The
temperature is automatically adjusted using climatic control. It is a fact that generally,
you will feel colder in the morning and not as cold in the afternoon in the air-conditioned
bus due to the external ambient temperature although the settings of the air-condition
remained unchanged.
We have rigorous maintenance program for bus air-conditioning. If the air-conditioning
in the bus is found to be faulty, it will be sent for repair immediately. We welcome
our passengers to call our feed back hotline, 1800-287 2727 should they find the air-conditioning
in our buses to be malfunctioning.
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Are
prams/strollers allowed on board the bus?
Yes, they are but they must be folded up when travelling on our buses for safety reasons. In an emergency braking situation, opened prams can pose as safety hazards to both the child within and fellow passengers around as it can be thrown forward. As passenger safety is important to us, we do not allow opened prams/strollers on board our buses.
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Are
animals allowed on buses and trains?
Animals are not allowed on board our buses and trains
due to hygiene and religious reasons. But guide dogs accompanying visually handicapped
commuters are allowed.
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Sometimes,
Bus Captains refuse to open the door for me despite seeing me trying to catch the
bus. Why?
All our Bus Captains are required to stop for passengers
to board the bus before moving off if they can see the commuters approaching the bus
and the bus is still in the bus stop bay. However, if the bus is partially out of
the bus stop bay even though it is still within the bus lane, the Bus Captains have
been advised not to stop for alighting or boarding activities for safety reasons.
Also, our Bus Captains have to concentrate on looking at their right so as to exit
from the bus bay and hence may not be able to see passengers running towards the bus
from the left or from the rear. For the safety of our passengers, we do not encourage
our passengers to run after the bus, they should wait for the next bus to arrive.
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The bus advertisements pasted on the bus windows get in our way. Can the advertisements be removed?
SBS Transit is constantly looking at avenues to defray our operating costs and keep the fares affordable for our passengers. Bus advertising is one of them. We are mindful of the need for our passengers to look out of our buses. Therefore, when we first introduced wholly painted buses, we adopted on our own accord, a guideline of covering less than one third of the window space on our buses. In addition, for the covered areas we made sure that the material used is highly perforated to allow passengers to see through the windows in the day and night. Such material also works like a sun filter film on most windows, providing shade from the glaring sunlight during the day.
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Why is it that bus services serving my estate do not go to where I want directly but requires me to transfer?
Unfortunately, it is not always possible to have a direct service, as there are literally thousands of possible service combinations and limited number of buses to fulfill this demand.
Hence, SBS Transit must trade-off between the needs of an individual and the majority of passengers who stand to benefit from a particular service.
Nevertheless, SBS Transit tries to provide as many links as possible to improve the connectivity. In 2005 alone, SBS Transit introduced more than 20 new services in order to serve the needs of our passengers.
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What is the purpose of having short trips?
Short trips are variants of our bus services that ply a certain stretch of the route instead of the whole route at once. Short trips are most useful when there is heavy demand along a certain stretch and serve to maximize the efficiency of bus deployment.
Rather than running the bus empty after the heavy boarding locations, short trips help to provide a proper deployment of buses along heavy areas. Good examples are near MRT stations located near places with heavy passenger activities, like schools.
Short trips are differentiated (e.g. ending with an "A" or "B") from normal services if they do not end at the terminating interchange/terminal of the parent service. This helps passengers decide whether or not the service brings them to their destination.
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Why does SBS Transit seem to be looking only at fare increase to improve their profits?
We would like to clarify that it is insufficient for us to depend on fare increases to maintain our profits. Our fare increase in 2005
was 1.8% after the introduction of a $3.45 million package to help mitigate the impact of the fare increase on certain group of passengers like the senior citzens. The package included a contribution of $1.15million to the Public Transport Fund for the needy. Against this, the fuel price increase was almost 50%. As such, we do look at other ways like cost saving measures and improvement of our productivity to improve our profits.
Indeed, our fares are very affordable, over the last 18 years, wages have gone up by an average of 182% but fares for our buses have gone up by only 17%.
In addition, children, students, senior citizens and NS men enjoy concessionary travel worth up to $60 million every year.
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What is Vehicle Location System?
The Vehicle Location System (VLS) is a satellite-based bus tracking system. It makes use of a combination of technologies, including Global
Positioning System, to determine the position of the bus. VLS determines the fare stage by matching the bus� actual location on the road against a pre-programmed set
of data in the system. When a bus has travelled a certain distance, the system will compare this information with the data and automatically determines the fare stage.
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The Ez-link card reader deducted my fare wrongly. How do I get a refund?
Commuters can file their claims through the TransitLink website, www.transitlink.com.sg or call the hotline 1800-2255663 for more information on the refund procedure.
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Are foldable bikes allowed on board buses and trains?
Yes they are permitted on our buses and trains from 15 march 2009 on:
- Mon - Fri: 9.30am - 4.00pm, 8.00pm to end of the revenue service.
- All day on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.
Please click here for general guidelines.
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