PUBLIC BUS SERVICE REORGANISATION (Complaints of dissatisfaction and steps to improve situation)

Mr Teong Eng Siong asked the Minister for Communications, (a) since the reorganisation of the public bus service, how many complaints of dissatisfaction over bus services have been received by his Ministry from members of the public, and whether the complaints have been dealt with immediately; and (h) whether he is aware that there are irregular departures of buses from bus termini with the result that it takes half an hour before the next bus arrives at a bus-stop or that several buses bearing the same service number arrive at the same time, and what steps he has taken to improve the situation.

The Minister for Communications (Mr Yong Nyuk Lin): Mr Speaker, Sir:(a) As a result of the recent bus services reorganisation, the number of written complaints received by the Suggestions Action Unit (P.O. Box 6000) of the Ministry, which was set up on 5th March, 1971, more than a month before the reorganisation, was 348.

These, however, included 65 letters which were anonymous, that is, without name or address, thus making it impossible for our Ministry to acknowledge or to follow up on them.

The remaining 283 letters, of which 226 were in English, 49 in Chinese and eight in Tamil, were first acknowledged by the Ministry and the complainants were subsequently advised of the remedial decisions that were taken; whether they were found acceptable, as proposed, or acceptable after suitable amendments had been made, or not acceptable but with reasons therefor, etc.

It may interest the Member for Sembawang if I give him some indication of the nature of the complaints received. They may be classified broadly as follows: Type of complaint Number of complaints (i) Deprivation of former service 80 (ii) Dissatisfaction over no direct service 78 (iii) Poor or irregular frequecy 78 (iv) Bus fares 19 (v) Service numbers on buses not visible 19 (vi) Complaints regarding routes being too long and circuitous 10 (vii) Time schedule (first bus/last bus leaving terminal) 9 (viii) Complaints against bus drivers/conductors 5 (ix) Complaints regarding old buses 2 --- 300 ===

As we dealt with 283 letters, of course, some letters of complaint did contain more than one type of complaint.

(b) Regarding the irregular departure of buses from bus termini resulting in irregular and poor frequency along the routes, the Bus Services Licensing Authority, as well as the Registry of Vehicles, are fully aware of this perennial problem, which occurs whenever there is poor management control over the bus drivers or because of traffic congestion upsetting bus schedules. To counter this, the Bus Services Licensing Authority requires all bus companies to furnish to the Authority a Performance Bond of $100,000 per company, under the new Bus Services Licensing Authority Act, which came into operation on 1st March 1971. Any company, which is found to be giving poor services, without any good reason, is liable to a financial penalty deductible from the Performance Bond. The staff of the Investigation Section of the R.O.V., which is being strengthened, will keep observation over the performance of the bus companies by conducting routine checks, or on receipt of complaints from the public, to ensure that the bus companies do provide a more regular and efficient service than what was available prior to the bus services reorganisation in April this year.