WAITING TIME FOR BUSES

WAITING TIME FOR BUSES:

(Impact of new standard on transport fares): 3.

Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim asked the Minister for Transport if the new standard which attempts to shorten the waiting time for buses will result in the increase of public transport fares for the commuters.

The Second Minister for Transport (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, Sir, since 1st August 2009, the Public Transport Council (PTC) has tightened the quality of service ( QoS) standards for bus services. Eighty percent of bus services will now have to leave the bus interchanges and terminals every 10 minutes or less during weekday peak periods from the previous 15 minutes. For feeder services, 90% of feeder services now have to do so at 10 minutes or less, up from the previous 85%. To meet the tighter standards, the operators have added more than 260 bus trips to 109 services during the morning and evening peak periods. Frequencies of these services have improved by 18% and their carrying capacity by 24%.

I would like to assure Members of the House that under the price cap formula, operators have to absorb the costs of these improvements and are not allowed to pass them on to commuters in the form of higher fares. As some Members may recall, under the formula, fare adjustments are determined by overall economic indicators, namely, the change in the consumer price index (CPI) and the national wage index (WI), and not the operators' specific costs. As such, the costs of buying new buses and operating additional bus trips will not affect fares, though I should add that in raising Quality of Service standards, the PTC has to be mindful of the impact on the financial viability of the operators.

Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (Marine Parade): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister, in view of the various changes made to improve the provision of public transport in Singapore, whether there has been any significant change in the modal share with regard to the daily usage of the transport mode as well as public transport mode here in Singapore.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, there have been anecdotal increases in public transport usage but I do not have the exact numbers with me here. Certainly, with the increased frequency, there have been heavier loads during the peak hours and, all in all, the main changes have led to a higher consumption of the public transport services than, say, private car usage.