Priority Seats for the Elderly and Pregnant Women on Public Transport Systems

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry will consider (i) conducting a campaign or public education on giving up seats for the elderly and pregnant women on public transport systems (ii) taking enforcement action against commuters who take up priority seats; (b) how many complaints have the train operators received about such cases in the past three years; and (c) whether the train operators will make more frequent public announcements on reminding commuters to give up seats to those who need them more.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: In the past three years, SMRT and SBST have received about 130 instances of feedback relating to passengers not giving up their seats.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Public Transport Council conduct an annual Graciousness Campaign with the public transport operators. One key message of the campaign is to encourage commuters to give up their seats to those who need them more, such as the elderly and pregnant women. Members of the House may recall Phua Chu Kang and the Dim Sum Dollies extolling commuters to give up their seats. The current campaign features cartoon characters, including one called Stand-Up Stacey. Our survey indicates that the message recall rate of the current campaign is very high – 95%.

Changing behaviour takes time but there are encouraging signs. In LTA's perception survey, the percentage of commuters noticing that people are giving up seats has risen from 42% in 2012 to 63% in 2014. We will continue to push ahead with our efforts to promote gracious behaviour. Hopefully, public education will lead to more sustained improvements in such behaviour, rather than using regulations and fines.