Singapore transport: Overhaul of bus system for smooth, fast trips

Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times 19 Jan 08;
Government to control planning of routes, bus market to be open to competition

'Our land transport system must be planned and built for people, not vehicles'

BUS travel here will undergo an overhaul to give commuters a faster, smoother and more pleasant ride.

This will happen in two stages over the next few years. First, the Government will take back control of the planning of routes from the two public transport companies.

The aim: to find the fastest and best route for commuters by bus and MRT - not how to make more money.

Then, it will open up the bus market to more competition. The idea is that contest could lead to better ways of doing things, and maybe, even lower costs.

More immediately, transfers will become easier and cheaper, and commuters will get more information on the go, to plan how best to make their journey.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim gave the details yesterday in the first of three key policy speeches he will make this month on how travel by bus, rail and car will change.

This shake-up of the land transport landscape foresees that by 2020, 14.3 million journeys will be made every day on this small island, up from 8.9 million now.

The future will be gridlock and pollution if many more people take to cars, he said.

The thing to do now is to move more people to public transport: Mr Lim's target is 70 per cent for all journeys in the morning peak by 2020, up from 63 per cent now.

But what will it take, he asked, for the majority to choose the bus or MRT over the car?

His ministry's solution for buses combines radical strokes with fine tweaking.

It is the fruit of a year-long study to take stock of a 1996 road-map on land transport and lay out a new one, good for the next 10 to 15 years.

The planners turned to consultants who assessed what worked for such cities as London, Hong Kong and Melbourne, and sought public views.

The 'new philosophy', as Mr Lim calls it, is to plan transport through the eyes of the commuter - from the time he thinks about making his journey to the time he reaches his destination.

'Our land transport system must be planned and built for people, not vehicles,' he said.

'Can people get to a train station or bus stop quickly and comfortably? Are the connections good? How long is the total journey time and waiting time between transfers? How crowded are the buses and trains? Can people get timely and user-friendly travel information?'

The Government will consider such concerns when it plans the bus routes and opens them up to the best bidder to run them, possibly as early as 2010.

It will specify standards for what commuters, in a 2007 official poll released yesterday, see as still lacking in the current system - less overcrowding, shorter waiting times.

If the consultants are right, the market has room for a few more bus operators.

These major changes aside, the planners are also tweaking the system to make transfers seamless.

The fare system will be changed so that commuters do not have to pay when making transfers. They will be charged just for the total distance travelled.

They will get a new season pass for use on all trains and buses, regardless of operator.

And the wait for the connection will be shorter. Buses will be given more priority on the roads later this year.

Some commuters, in welcoming the changes, say they are overdue.

Tampines GRC MP and deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Ong Kian Min expects complaints from commuters whose routes get re-drawn by the Land Transport Authority, but thinks they should not sidetrack people from the overall good the changes bring.

'I hope the minister will have the political will and the support from the people to see this through,' said Mr Ong.

It is not clear yet if bidding for the bus routes will eventually push fares up or down. Mr Lim said new gains by operators as a result of opening the market to competition could be reflected in the formula that caps fare rises.

The two bus operators were optimistic about their prospects when the bus routes are carved up for bidders.

SBS Transit, which has a bigger share, saw the share price of its parent ComfortDelGro fall five cents to $1.61, while its own stayed unchanged at $2.83. SMRT's rose one cent to $1.73.

All eyes are now on the coming announcements. Mr Lim said there will be a need to reduce the vehicle growth rate and raise Electronic Road Pricing charges.

Motorists and aspiring car owners can do their sums then, on whether it makes sense to make their other car the bus or the MRT.

chinlian@sph.com.sg

LAND TRANSPORT REVIEW, SINGAPORE

PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE CENTRE OF LAND TRANSPORT SYSTEM, REVIEW

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RADICAL STROKES AND FINE TWEAKING

New targets

Shorter wait

# August 2009: Eight in 10 services to run every 10 minutes or less, down from today's 15 minutes.

Zippier travel

# 2015: Eight in 10 commuters will complete their trip within one hour, up from seven in 10 today.

Catching up with the car

# 2020: Trips on public transport to take no more than 1.5 times that by car, down from today's 1.7 times.

What's ahead

Seamless connections, shorter journeys

# Now: Bus companies plan bus routes.

# By 2009: Government does centralised bus route planning.

More efficient and better service

# Open up bus routes to best bidder, possibly as early as 2010.

# More niche and premium services.

Coming very soon

Faster buses

# By June: More peak-hour and full-day bus lanes.

# By year-end: Motorists must give way to buses leaving bus bays. Buses get priority to turn at junctions.

# By 2009: Bus speeds raised to 20 to 25kmh, from 16 to 19kmh.

More info on the go

# By May: Bus arrivals in real time at another 20 bus stops, raising total to 50.

# By July: SMS for arrival times at some bus stops.

# Journey planner, using Internet or phone, to find best route to take.

# In the works: Interactive electronic public transport map.

Cheaper transfers

# By year-end: Season pass for travel on both bus and rail, regardless of operator.

# By 2009: Fares completely distance-based. No boarding charge for transfers.

# In the works: More air- conditioned transport hubs in Bedok, Jurong East, Serangoon, Joo Koon and Marina South.

A transport policy with the commuter at its heart
Straits Times 19 Jan 08;

Transport Minister Raymond Lim yesterday outlined the key strategies that will guide land transport developments over the next 15 years. Central to all the initiatives is this question: What will it take for the majority of Singaporeans to choose the bus or train over the car? Mr Lim offered some solutions and explained why change is needed
# Why is change needed?

Singapore is the second most densely populated country in the world. Already, roads take up 12 per cent of our total land area and the demands on our land transport system are set to increase by 60 per cent, from our current 8.9 million daily journeys to 14.3 million by 2020.

Making public transport the centrepiece of our land transport system will be crucial to keep congestion in check and protect our environment.

# What needs fixing in the public transport system?

These were the common refrains:

# Long waits

# Erratic bus arrivals

# Circuitous feeders

# Overcrowded buses

# Give us more point-to-point buses because transfers are inconvenient. The waiting time for each leg adds up and the total journey time is much too long.

To be fair, eight in 10 commuters the Land Transport Authority (LTA) polled in its 2007 Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey were satisfied with the public transport system as a whole, similar to 2006.

The International Association of Public Transport also named Singapore as one of the top cities for public transport in its 2006 Mobility In Cities report.

However, the LTA's commuter surveys have also highlighted long waiting times and overcrowding as key concerns.

To make public transport as competitive as the car, we agree the system must do even better and, in particular, our review has zeroed in on these problems commuters have highlighted.

# What will change for the commuter when people are put at the centre of transport planning?

Our land transport system must be planned and built for people, not vehicles. This means seeing through the eyes of the commuter from the time he steps out of his house to the time he gets to his destination. In fact, it starts even before that, as soon as he thinks about making a journey.

We will invest in quality, not just system capacity. Simply saying we have planned for enough trains and buses for the increased travel demand in 2020 is not enough.

We need to ask: Can people get to a train station or bus stop quickly and comfortably? Are the connections good? How long is the total journey time and waiting time between transfers? How crowded are the buses and trains? Can people get timely and user-friendly travel information? And so on.

Everything that is important to the commuter needs to be thought through. Only then will we be able to achieve our target of making 70 per cent of all morning peak hour trips on public transport by 2020.

# What improvements in bus services can commuters expect?

Buses are an integral part of our public transport system, serving two-thirds of all commuter trips today.

By 2009, the LTA will also take on the central planning of the bus network, so we have one agency that does all the land transport planning with the people in mind.

By 2015, our target is for 80 per cent of public transport commuters to complete their journeys within an hour, from the point they set off to arriving at their destination, up from 71 per cent today.

We will narrow the gap between public transport and car journey times. By 2020, journeys on public transport should not take more than 1.5 times longer than journeys by car, a reduction from the current 1.7 times.

To shorten waiting times for buses and reduce crowding, bus operators are now required to dispatch buses from the bus interchanges at more frequent intervals. At least 80 per cent of bus services must be run at peak frequencies of 10 minutes or less by August 2009, compared to 15 minutes today.

Going forward, the LTA will ensure there are more frequent and direct feeder services, so commuters get to MRT stations and bus interchanges in less time.

Bus and rail service schedules at the interchanges will also be better coordinated, to cut down on waiting times and facilitate transfers.