Review of Demand for Public Buses

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Transport (a) how the demand for public transport is determined; (b) what are the criteria and considerations for introducing new public bus services; and (c) how often reviews are carried out to ascertain the adequacy of public bus services.

Mrs Josephine Teo:

(for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) works closely with the relevant land-use planning agencies to ensure that the necessary transport infrastructure are planned and implemented in a timely manner to support projected population growth and future land use development plans. The agencies include the HDB and the URA; and the transport infrastructure would include new MRT lines and supporting infrastructure like bus depots.

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This is a constant and on-going process. For example, as and when HDB's plans to launch Built-to-Order sites are ready, LTA will review the public transport options available for the area and assess the measures required to meet the increased travel demand. These measures can come in the form of more buses being added to existing bus routes that serve the new developments, amending existing bus routes in the vicinity, or adding new bus routes to enhance connectivity.

Specifically for the introduction of new bus services, LTA will assess the need based on projected demand for the route and the benefits that it will bring to the community, as well as the availability and adequacy of existing alternatives. Where it makes sense and is feasible, LTA will then work with the public transport operators (PTOs) to introduce new bus routes to provide the enhanced connectivity needed. To meet changes in travel patterns and new connectivity requests, LTA also regularly reviews public feedback and studies the possibilities to adjust existing bus routes. LTA does recognise that some of these changes will not be welcomed by a minority of commuters, for example, if their journey is going to be a little bit longer because the route is extended to cover some new residence in an emerging area. These are the same general conditions that LTA will apply, when working with community leaders on the details of the 40 or so new bus routes that will be progressively introduced under the recently announced Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP).

In addition to ensuring adequate bus route connectivity, LTA also works closely with the PTOs to ensure adequate capacity is provided. LTA and the PTOs have in place a joint quarterly review process to reduce crowding on heavily-utilised bus services. This review provides a regular mechanism for bus operators to respond in a timely manner to ground changes in bus demand. Since June 2010, more than 100 bus services have been improved, with more bus trips and higher capacity buses being deployed along sectors that experience consistent heavy ridership.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Mr Speaker, Sir, let me thank the Minister of State for her reply and I really thank her for reaffirming that the Ministry of Transport will work closely with URA in terms of planning bus services. Can I just check some statistics with the Minister of State to see whether she agrees?

Yishun Bus Interchange has 17 buses – 15 SMRT, two SBS – servicing a population of 184,000 residents, which means that if you divide it out, it is about 10,823 residents per bus service. Woodlands Bus Interchange: population of 242,000 has 28 bus services – 26 SMRT and two SBS, which means it has 8,642 population per bus. Sembawang Town: 68,100 residents and five bus services. In the end, 13,620 residents to one bus service.

Sir, I am just checking with the Minister of State – are there plans to improve the bus services for Sembawang? All three towns are served by MRT but bus services are not equal.

Mrs Josephine Teo: Dr Lim has clearly done his homework. He is an eye surgeon; I would think that it is wise to trust his mathematics as well. For Dr Lim's information, the enhancements that I have talked about to the bus services since June 2010, I did a quick check as well, six of those services involved Sembawang. Some services have been improved, but I recognise what he is saying, and when there is opportunity, we will certainly be in consultation with the grassroots leaders.

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What I would like to share with Members of the House is that the new 40 bus routes that we are hoping to introduce, that constitutes about 15% increase to the basic bus routes that are currently available. Currently, there are 261 basic bus routes. That would include your feeder services as well as the trunk services. Forty new routes is about 15%. That is quite significant, but I would imagine that some prioritisation would still be needed. We will bear your statistics very much in mind.

Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef: The Minister of State mentioned that bus services and routes are reviewed regularly in a timely fashion. I would like to just bring up this question. For the last six years, I have been the Member of Parliament covering the Joo Seng area and there have only been three bus services with very irregular frequency. It has been brought up many times and to date, there has not been any improvement seen. I was wondering whether one of the 40 routes that are going to be improved will include this area in particular. Six rounds of house visits in six years and I get the same feedback every time. So, I hope that we can see some improvement.

Mrs Josephine Teo: Dr Fatimah Lateef and I joined politics at the same time. In fact, we sat together in the House for several years. In the same time frame where I served in Toa Payoh East, I have equally lobbied for improvements to feeder services serving my residents and I would have to say that the LTA is quite fair in assessing all the needs. Truly, where there is enough capacity to fulfil those needs, I think they do try. That is actually one of the reasons why it is so important for us to introduce the Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP). We hear this feedback on the ground, but without additional capacity, adding services to one area by increasing the number of buses that are deployed there or to certain routes will simply mean having to take from someone else or some other route. And that is why the BSEP, pumping in additional 550 buses, is so critical to improving bus services on the ground.

Perhaps, to pre-empt all other Members from rising and sharing with me statistics in your specific areas and feedback that you have gotten from your house visits, let me assure you that we fully intend to consult with the grassroots. A lot of the feedback is already known, and at the end of the day, with these additional 550 buses, we still have to prioritise and we will do our best to try and meet the various requests. If, for example, a new route can serve more than one area and bring about convenience for a wider spectrum of commuters, that is indeed what we hope to do.

Mr Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, last question. I am assuming it is not a specific bus route question.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Sir, actually it is on the bus improvement services that the Minister of State mentioned just now. There are six BTO projects in Nee Soon South. Residents for one shifted in last year, residents for another just shifted in now and four more are coming up, but apparently there is not much improvement in the bus services despite many, many appeals. So, I would like to know when LTA will let us know the improvements in that region because every time the answer is the same: "LTA is studying."

Mrs Josephine Teo: After studying, they have improved 100 bus services and with this new addition, we hope that the studies will allow more services to be improved. And I am sure in your areas where the demand warrants it, it will certainly be considered.

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