LONGER BUS ROUTES

LONGER BUS ROUTES: 12.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether he will elaborate on the Government's announcement that some longer bus routes will be discontinued; (b) what is the impact of such discontinuance on the bottom lines and financial positions of public transport operators; and (c) how the Government will address the adverse impact of such discontinuance on elderly and disabled commuters.

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The Second Minister for Transport (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to assure Members that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has no intentions to undertake a blanket exercise to phase out all long bus routes. Trunk bus routes will continue to play an essential role in our public transport system as they provide comprehensive connections to all parts of Singapore, particularly areas that the MRT does not reach.

The issue of possible splitting of some of the long bus routes arose through LTA’s bus route planning consultations with the different constituencies. LTA had during these consultations received feedback on the poor reliability of certain bus services that ply long routes. Because of their route length, such services are understandably more susceptible to delays caused by poor traffic conditions, which affect their ability to keep to their schedules and arrival times. LTA is considering various options to address this feedback. The option of splitting long bus routes will be studied together with other proposals and will only be considered when it is sensible to do so.

In studying any changes to bus routes, LTA will have to consider many factors carefully, and weigh the trade-offs. LTA looks into factors such as available travel alternatives, ease of transfer, overall journey times and fare implications as well as the special needs of particular communities of users including the elderly and the disabled.

As for the impact on public transport operators, any changes should bring about operational improvements and result in better use of resources. Any efficiency gains from bus route planning in general, including any splitting of long bus routes, will be ploughed back into the system to benefit commuters. For example, if

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improvements in operational efficiency mean that fewer buses are required to run a particular route, these resources would be transferred to another route where they will be used to improve the service level.

Mr Speaker, Sir, in deciding on any route changes, be it to meet community requests or for better service reliability, the guiding principle for LTA is to make these changes only if the overall benefits are significant and they address the concerns of the communities.

Ms Sylvia Lim: Sir, three supplementary questions for the Minister. First, I would like to ask the Minister to confirm whether the reports from the press on 29th March were correct when she was quoted as saying that the Government was moving away from the old system of providing long bus routes and studying which ones could be split into two. Was that accurate?

Secondly, could the Minister confirm her answer earlier that the cutting of the longer bus routes is likely to result in profitable results for the public transport operators?

And, thirdly, I would like the Minister to elaborate on the review that is going to be done in terms of determining which bus routes are unreliable. What would be the criteria used, what kind of timings are we talking about? And does she not agree that even though a bus route arrival time may be somewhat unpredictable, it still serves the needs of certain groups of the community such as the elderly and the disabled?

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Mr Speaker, Sir, let me set the context in which my comments were made and reported on 29th March. This was in the context of an update on the consultations that we had

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undertaken. The comment was made because there were many specific pieces of feedback about poor reliability on certain long bus routes. The second context was that with the intensification of the rail network, more and more parts of Singapore will be more accessible and, therefore, the need to introduce new cross-country buses, as I had called them then, would be greatly reduced, and this is especially so for those along the MRT corridors. So, that was the context in which I made those comments.

As for the splitting of the long bus routes, there will be many factors to keep in mind, and the operational improvements will just be one of the considerations. As I said, commuter benefits would also have to rank high on the list of trade-offs to be considered.

Let me also explain some of the considerations. There are really no strict criteria on, for example, what defines a long bus route. From the perspective of LTA, a bus route would be considered unduly long if the demand profile clearly shows that the majority of the passengers do not travel on that particular route for a substantial distance. So, if they do not travel on it for a substantial distance, then that particular route will be considered unduly long. And the routes that have been singled out by the constituencies are typically routes which pass through the city centre near the mid-point.

Some of the bus routes that have been highlighted from the ground would range from a one-way route length of 20 km to 37 km. So it is really quite a range. But it does not mean that all routes of these distances will, therefore, be automatically considered unduly long routes. Let me give Members an example. A 35-km bus route that connects commuters from Woodlands to the airport, for example, via the expressway, will not be considered unduly long

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because it would have served the majority of the people for the bulk of the journey.

The review would take into consideration all the different aspects, as I have mentioned in my reply. In particular for the elderly and the disabled, if there is a particular bus route that bears that potential based on the ground feedback, LTA would first identify the elderly passengers from the ticketing data to find out the travel patterns and to see whether they have alternatives. Likewise, for the disabled, LTA can contact their public transport operators to identify any regular passengers who commute in wheelchairs and see whether there are alternatives. Before LTA decides to split the bus route, LTA will factor in the travel patterns of these groups of passengers and see whether there can be mitigating measures for them.