Maximising Capacity Loads on Buses and Trains

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport in order to maximise the capacity load on buses and trains (a) what is the Ministry doing to get public transport operators to educate commuters not to choke up the entrances and exits of the buses and train carriages; and (b) how many complaints were lodged by the public against bus drivers who ask the passengers to move to the back of the buses over the last three years.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew: The Public Transport Council, together with the Land Transport Authority, Singapore Kindness Movement, and the operators – SMRT and SBST – have been working in partnership over the years to encourage commuters to be more gracious on public transport. Besides encouraging commuters to give up seats to those who need them more, the public education programme also reminds commuters to move to the centre of the train or back of the bus, as well as to queue up and let others alight first to ensure a pleasant journey.

The public education programme to promote graciousness in public transport in 2009 and 2010 received positive feedback from the public, with awareness of the first graciousness programme being as high as 94.8%. More than 80% said the programme influenced a change in their own behaviour to give up seats, give way to passengers alighting and to move in to allow others to board.

To better engage the young, LTA has also organised a contest using SPH publications – Little Red Dot and IN newspapers – to invite Primary and Secondary school students to express their thoughts on how to make public transport journeys more pleasant, using slogans, poems and reflections. Students have submitted nearly 1,700 entries and commuters will see the winning entries displayed on the MRT and bus network from February 2012. We hope the students' work will inspire other commuters to be more gracious while taking public transport.

For the operators, both SBST and SMRT train their bus drivers to ask commuters in a polite manner to move to the rear of buses so as not to block the entrances of buses, so more passengers can board the bus. Besides displaying posters in the buses, there are also pre-programmed announcements in some of the newer SMRT buses to encourage passengers to move to the rear of the bus.

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Over the last two years, the bus service operators have received about 20 complaints from unhappy commuters against bus drivers who have asked them to move to the rear of the bus 7 . While the bus service operators have put up signs on the buses to encourage onboard passengers to move to the rear of the bus and organised courtesy and safety campaigns to educate commuters to be more considerate when travelling on public transport, there are commuters who are reluctant to do so. From observations, this is because such commuters would prefer to stand close to the rear door, so that they can more easily alight.

The bus service operators will nonetheless continue with their publicity efforts to encourage considerate public transport usage, including encouraging commuters to move to the rear of the bus to allow other commuters to board more easily.