BEDOK INTERCHANGE AND FEEDER BUS SERVICES IN BEDOK NORTH

Encik Saidi Shariff asked the Minister for Communications and Minister for Labour whether there are plans to improve (i) the facilities at the Bedok Interchange and (ii) the feeder bus services in Bedok North; and, if so, how and when the plans will be implemented.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministers for Communications and Culture (Encik Sidek bin Saniff) (for the Minister for Communications and Minister for Labour): Mr Speaker, Sir, there are two integrated questions here. The first is the Bedok Interchange and the other is the feeder bus services in Bedok North.

Plans to redevelop the existing interchange into a much bigger one with a large passenger concourse have been finalized. Construction is scheduled to begin in July this year. This will be done in stages so as to minimize disruption to present operations. The redevelopment will cost some $3 million and the new interchange is expected to be completed in early 1983.

The new interchange will occupy a land area of 1.7 hectares. It will have a 15 metres by 180 metres passenger concourse, 32 end-on berths, seven saw-tooth berths and 33 remote parking bays.

For the convenience of passengers, the roof of the concourse will be extended beyond the concourse floor to provide shelter from rain and sun. Queue railings will also be installed to facilitate peak period passenger boardings.

Besides crew amenities, there will also be public amenities like toilets, telephones and a sundry shop.

As for feeder services, Bedok North, where some 29,300 dwelling units have been balloted and occupied, is presently served by:

(a) five feeder services, namely, 221, 225, 226, 227 and 228 from Bedok Interchange;

(b) two services, namely, 221C and 223 from Chai Chee Terminal; and

(c) ring Service 224 originating from Chai Chee Terminal and linking all neighbourhoods in Bedok North and Bedok South.

A total of 38 buses are deployed on these services. During the peak period these services provide a capacity of 120 buses per peak hour. As demand grows, more buses will be added to the relevant services. The SBS is closely monitoring this demand and a survey is carried out every 6-8 weeks, under SBS' Market Analysis Programme (MAP).

Service 226, introduced on 22nd February 1981 to serve Neighbourhood 6, is the latest service for Bedok North. On 29th March, Service 227 covering Neighbourhood 4 will be extended both to serve the newly occupied flats as well as Industrial Park E. This extension will require the addition of two buses.

SBS will introduce at a later stage a feeder service to Chai Chee Street where a school, some flats and a few factories are being constructed. With the introduction of this new service, the whole of Bedok North will be fully served by feeder services.

Encik Saidi Shariff (Kaki Bukit): Mr Speaker, Sir, from the feedback and the numerous complaints that I have received from my constituents, in particular their dissatisfaction with the feeder bus services in Bedok North, particularly the routes taken by the different services, I have asked my CCC to form a working committee to look into and make a study or a survey on all the bus services. I hope I can get the assurance of the Hon. Parliamentary Secretary that the Ministry will take up the recommendations of this committee.

Encik Sidek bin Saniff: Sir, I would like to commend the initiative of the hon. Member and his activists. I can assure him that the Ministry, and especially the SBS, will always consider any good suggestion or recommendation made by the public or by the constituents subject, of course, to the confirmation of our engineers or people who are concerned with this matter.