Hold bus services to higher standards

I am putting up this article, since it is the basis of another noteworthy reply from a reader. Read this one first, then the other one next.
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Hold bus services to higher standards

Let's also employ more technology, set up high-level task force to effect real improvement

by Richard Hartung

Everything seems fine with the buses here, according to the Public Transport Council (PTC). SBS Transit "complied with all the standards," the PTC said in October, while SMRT has only "been fined for three failures" for late departures in the six months until May.

Tell that to commuters, though, and you may hear far different accounts as their stories come gushing out.

One commuter I know taking Service 75 during peak hours in mid-October, for example, waited for 20 minutes one day and then had two buses arrive together as soon as he reached the bus stop the next morning. It is an experience commonly echoed by many.

Another commuter I spoke to compares bus drivers' stop-and-go driving techniques to the rides hurtling people around at Universal Studios. More stories like these abound.

With over three million passenger-trips on buses every day, the impact of small delays or other problems is huge. Not unexpectedly, the Singapore Management University's 2010 Q2 Customer Satisfaction Index found that "customer satisfaction scores for both the Mass Rapid Transit Systems and the public buses sub-sectors have been declining since 2007".

So what can be done? Several steps could make commuting by bus better.

For one, Singapore could start using best practices. Research last year by Imperial College's Mark Trompet, for example, showed that New York set a standard where buses must arrive within three minutes after their scheduled arrival time and buses in Paris must arrive within two minutes. Where schedules in Singapore do exist, he said, buses are supposed to arrive within five minutes before or after their scheduled time.

That 10-minute window can cause dissatisfaction, or worse. As research by University of Arizona Professor Ryan Johnson mentions, a "bus-bunching phenomenon has frustrated passengers in cities around the world". Other research cited by Mr Trompet showed that bus arrival irregularity "discourages commuters' use of public transit".

If we're going to get people to ride the bus and like it, moving to the levels of New York or Paris could help. While the PTC does measure 11 standards, tracking others like "regularity" or "customer satisfaction" as is done in Sydney and setting higher targets such as arriving within three minutes of the scheduled time - rather than "at least 80 per cent of bus services to operate at headway (frequencies) of not more than 10 minutes during weekday (excluding public holidays) peak periods" - could lead to higher service levels.



THE TECH IS OUT THERE

Another step would be to leverage leading-edge technology fully. In the United States, University of California Professor Alex Bayen's research group is merging radar, lidar, detectors embedded in roads and video with input from GPS devices to "detect patterns and build a prediction engine".

One initiative in Sydney, according to the New South Wales Auditor-General, is a real time bus monitoring system that "can also provide traffic light priority for late running buses". While technology is used here, too, bus companies still have staff standing at bus stops monitoring bus arrivals with a watch and paper!

Steps like changing bus priority real-time, using better prediction models for scheduling and using technology to help enforce bus priority in bus lanes could result in higher service levels. While usage of some of this technology may already be in the pipeline here, employing more of it and communicating the results could also be beneficial.

Improving bus transport is important for reducing commute times, raising productivity and increasing usage of public transportation, among other reasons. Despite efforts to do better, Land Transport Authority data until 2008 showed that bus commuting times had remained static at about 42 minutes for a decade. Even though it turns out that SMRT is a member of the International Bus Benchmarking Group that shares global best bus practices, data still indicates that arrival times and other results lag best-in-class standards.

Actually solving the problems may take more focus than what has been the case so far. For example, the situation in Singapore may be serious enough to warrant an independent and high-level task force to develop and implement strategies that lead to real improvement. Setting and achieving higher standards as well as taking steps to leverage technology even better could also make a big difference. There are a multitude of other opportunities.

Public transport here has the potential to be world-class and improvements will benefit productivity as well as commuter satisfaction levels. The critical next step is to make the change happen.


The writer is a consultant who has lived in Singapore since 1992.



Taken from TODAYOnline.com; source article is below:
Hold bus services to higher standards

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‘Cannot drive below 90kmh’

Some events are really that unfortunate… do you have yours to tell? The below story tells of how really unfortunate some things are, especially if your expectation and image of the company is high. As has always been the case, a small dot of ink of a clean, white sheet will be noticed, immediately noticed, and will always be remembered…

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Letter from Dinakar Sethuraman

I HAD an unfortunate incident when I went to receive five friends from India who were visiting Singapore on May 24.

We booked an SMRT limousine at Terminal 3 and paid $16 as limo charge. My wife has a neck problem and there were two old women and a child in that group of five.

When they got into the cab, my wife told the driver that he must drive carefully and slowly because of a neck problem.

In the past taxi drivers have always been careful. But this limo driver drove recklessly, above 90kmh, even after repeatedly being asked to slow down. He claimed that he cannot drive below 90kmh in Singapore.

My tourist friends, who had been impressed with Terminal 3, were very unhappy with the experience. My wife experienced severe neck pain for two days because of the ride.

I called SMRT to complain and they filed a report. Subsequently, someone called back, did not give his name and said that they would monitor the driver, before putting the phone down.

It seemed quite a callous dismissal of a complaint from a customer.

I wonder why one should pay a premium for a limousine for such poor service. I would expect SMRT to take action again the driver and refund the premium of $16 paid.

A country's image is formed at the airport and such experiences do not do justice to this otherwise hospitable city.

From TODAYonline.com, Voices – Monday, 01-Jun-2009; see the source article here.

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Will soft approach work?

As graciousness campaign starts, some want penalties imposed

Zul Othman, zul@mediacorp.com.sg

A NEW graciousness campaign has been launched to get train commuters to give up their seats for the elderly and make way for alighting passengers. But given how some still refuse to do so, after years of gentle reminders, is it time to bring the stick — in the form of fines and penalties — into play?

Ms Jessie Tan, 28, definitely thinks so.

On her train trips home, she has seen seated commuters blatantly ignoring elderly passengers who are left standing for most of their journey. “I’m all for a fine system, it would make people think more about those around them,” said the executive.

Mr Donnie Jei, 33, thinks of penalties as a good deterrent but actual enforcement would be a problem.

“A lot of manpower would be needed. You’d have to hire inspectors, and spend money so they can catch people who don’t give their seats to little old ladies,” said the technician, who travels to work by train every day.

Asked if it would consider imposing penalties in future, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) declined to comment as it wants to pursue the public education aspect of the public education programme first.

The Public Transport Council-led initiative, ‘A Happy Journey Starts Like That!’ was kicked off on Saturday morning.

Signs for priority seating on MRT trains have been standardised — the new blue-and-white signs now indicate “Reserve Seating”, as a more forceful call for passengers to give up their seats to the needy.

New floor queue lines have also been installed at 11 MRT stations, with a green arrow for passengers exiting the trains, indicating that they have the right of way.

Images of television icons Phua Chu Kang and Rosie also appear on trains and buses, asking commuters to be gracious.

PTC chairman Gerard Ee is confident the campaign will be well received. Looking at the number of people blogging or posting online their complaints about commuter behaviour, he told 938LIVE: “People are more aware and beginning to say, ‘look, enough is enough, we want things to improve’.”

With a graciousness campaign like this, “you’re not accusing anybody of being the guilty party. You’re just saying ‘these are nice things to do, let’s just all do it, and then all of us can enjoy using the public transport system’.”

Programme service ambassadors — comprising staff and volunteers from the LTA, SBS Transit and SMRT — will be stationed at some MRT stations during the morning and evening rush hours to help commuters give way to those alighting.

From TODAYOnline.com, Voices, see the source article here.

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