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I waited for about 20 minutes for my bus to arrive and when it does, two buses of the same bus service come at the same time. One crowded and the other almost empty.
Why is that so?
The reason for this is due to on-route traffic conditions, including traffic jams, failure to give way to buses and stopping at traffic junctions.
For example, assume 3 buses start out being 10min apart which was sufficient to cater to the demand along the route (see below).
Bus 1 does 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 has lengthened, while the time between Bus 2 and Bus 3 has shortened (see below).
By taking more than its share of passengers Bus 2 would slow down, while Bus 3 picks up fewer passengers which causes it to speed up. Bus 2 is thus caught in a vicious cycle that comes to a head when the third bus catches up.
To the passenger on the ground, he would have waited 20min and it would seem that Bus 2 is crowded while Bus 3 is 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. Bunching will then 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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I am going to be late so why does the Bus Captain drive so slowly?
Bus Captains are required to regulate their speed to keep to their schedule. This is to ensure that arrival times are as close to the planned schedule as possible. The need to keep to the schedule is explained in Point 1.
If ahead of schedule, they will have to regulate their speed. However, Bus Captains are not allowed to stop and wait at bus stops in order to regulate their speeds.
If behind schedule, they will speed up but there is limited scope for this as our Bus Captains are not allowed to speed or allowed to skip bus stops. On expressways, the speed limit of our buses is 60km/h and on other roads, the speed limit is 50km/h. While on roads that have signs indicating a lower speed limit like 40km/h, our Bus Captains are to adhere to the lower speed limit as indicated on the signs.
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The bus service that I usually take is not air-conditioned. Why can’t SBS Transit deploy more air-conditioned buses?
Currently, 90% of SBS Transit’s buses are fully air-conditioned. The number of non air-conditioned buses over the past three years has been declining from 282 buses in 2003, to 249 buses in 2004. This has been further reduced to 244 buses now.
However, the replacement of the non-air-conditioned buses has to be done progressively so as to contain costs. All buses that are in good serviceable condition will continue to be deployed on services. Nonetheless, we are working towards having a fully air-conditioned fleet and will continue to replace our older, non air-conditioned buses when they reach their statutory lives.
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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 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 for the visually handicapped are allowed.
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I often find myself running to catch the bus when it arrives at the bus stop while I am still some distance away. But Bus Captains usually refuse to open the door for me despite seeing me trying to catch the bus. Why is this so?
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, many a time, 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 would 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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The programmes on TV Mobile are either in English or Mandarin. How about Malay or Tamil progammes? Also, the sound is too loud. Why can’t we have a peaceful bus ride?
SBS Transit worked with MediaCorp to install TV Mobile in our buses in 2001. MediaCorp looks after the programming and maintenance of the television sets while SBS Transit provides the buses. The purpose is to provide infotainment to our commuters so as to enhance their travel experience.
According to the latest ACNielsen survey, English (71%) is the preferred language for TV Mobile programmes, followed by Mandarin (26%). Bearing in mind the language sensitivity in a multi-lingual country like Singapore, our programming content is 88% in English and 12% in Mandarin (based on a typical week). 76% of the commuters surveyed agree that TV Mobile make their bus journeys more pleasant. 67% feel that the volume is just right. In fact, 18% feel that the audio level is a bit low.
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Why is it that bus services serving my estate not going to where I want to go 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 customers.
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What is the purpose of having shortworking trips?
Shortworking trips are variants of our bus services that ply a certain stretch of the route instead of the whole route at once. Shortworking 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, shortworking 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.
Shortworking 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 not look into improving productivity but chose to increase fares to increase 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 citizens. The package also included a contribution of $1.15 million to the Public Transport Fund for the needy. Against this, the fuel price increase was almost 50%. As such, improving productivity is still relevant in our buses.
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What is Vehicle Location System?
The Vehicle Location System (VLS) - a satellite-based bus tracking system developed by the Land Transport Authority, 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 incorrectly deducted my fare. 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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