SINGAPORE – Commuter travel patterns and the overall connectivity and resilience of the public transport network are among factors considered when bus services are changed, said Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat.
Mr Chee, who was speaking in Parliament on Feb 16, was responding to Workers’ Party MP Gerald Giam’s questions to the Ministry of Transport about the reason behind amending and retaining bus routes and the factors considered.
In his reply, the Transport Minister said that the public transport network requires a balance between providing convenience for commuters and keeping overall costs affordable for commuters and taxpayers.
This includes making changes to some existing bus services that run parallel routes to new MRT lines and have experienced significant reductions in ridership levels, he said, adding that these assessments are done case by case.
“It is certainly the more popular thing to do if we just keep all bus services intact, even if their ridership levels have fallen significantly, while adding new MRT lines and introducing new bus services and routes to serve residents from new estates,” Mr Chee said.
He then asked Mr Giam if he accepts the additional costs that will be incurred by allowing both public transport services to run parallel to each other.
Mr Chee added: “It is not correct to only focus on the convenience for some commuters without recognising that such an approach will end up with higher fares for all commuters and higher subsidies that all taxpayers have to bear.”
In response, Mr Giam (Aljunied GRC) asked if the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has surveyed elderly commuters on whether they prefer taking the bus or MRT for routes where both options are available.
He added that costs are also incurred when people continue to drive cars or take other forms of private transport in the event that public transport is perceived to not be as convenient as it was before.
Mr Chee, in response, noted that Mr Giam had not answered his question about accepting the increase in cost to keep parallel routes.
He added that decisions to amend existing bus services are not made automatically but, instead, after consideration is given to commuter patterns, which include people switching to other bus services, or taking the MRT, which may be faster.
Mr Giam said: “I sense the minister is trying to paint me as being a populist by calling for all buses to run parallel with MRT lines. I never called for that.”
Instead, the frequency of other existing buses should be increased, Mr Giam said, citing the example of the low frequency of bus service 228 in the Bedok Reservoir area despite the routes of three services in the same area – 22, 66, 506 – being changed.
This has been an issue with his constituents since the bus routes were amended in 2021, said Mr Giam, who told him that the frequency of existing bus service 228 is not enough and because of that, residents have asked to bring back other bus services that were removed.
Mr Giam also noted how LTA made a U-turn on its decision to stop bus service 167 after objections from commuters, and decided that the service will remain and operate at 30-minute intervals.
In response, Mr Chee said that he did not call Mr Giam a populist, and thanked him for acknowledging that trade-offs have to be made as resources have to be properly allocated.
Acknowledging the way commuters were affected by the shortening of bus service 22 and 66, Mr Chee said that he retained bus service 65, which plies the sector between Eunos Link and Tampines Bus Interchange that used to be covered by service 22.
The frequency of service 228 also increased during the morning peak period, Mr Chee said, adding that LTA will continue to listen to feedback from residents on how to improve bus connectivity and services.
