SINGAPORE BUS SERVICE (1978) LTD (Reinstatement of bus services 149 and 390)

Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Communications whether he will request the Singapore Bus Service (1978) Ltd to reinstate bus services 149 and 390 urgently as the recent withdrawal of these two services has greatly inconvenienced most shift workers working in Changi Airport.

The Minister for Communications (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, Sir, according to the Public Transport Council (PTC), the withdrawal of services 149 and 390 was part of a package to revamp bus services to the Changi Airport. This package included the extension of service 16 to the Airport, and the addition of buses to service 24 so that MRT commuters will have a better link to the Airport. Although service 149 was withdrawn, Scheme B buses were retained on the route to cater to peak demand.

Like all other network changes under the MRT-bus integration exercise, the operators made these changes to the airport services to make more productive use of buses and drivers, and to reduce duplication of services.

The Council approved the package of changes to the airport services after satisfying itself that alternative services are available to affected commuters. For example, for those taking service 149, the alternatives are service 31 between Toa Payoh and Marine Parade, and service 16 between Marine Parade and Changi Airport.

It is the practice that, whenever changes to bus routes are implemented, the PTC and bus operators monitor feedback closely to see if further fine-tuning is necessary. After evaluating feedback from the airport workers directly as well as through Mr Teo, the Council decided that SBS should supplement Service 16 with a parallel peak-hour express service 16E. Service 16E was implemented on 31st January 1994.

Mr Teo Chong Tee (Changi): Sir, bus service No. 16E and also the Scheme B service 149 are operating during peak hours and I think they are quite inconvenient for the shift workers. May I ask the Minister whether he would ask SBS to reinstate service 149 and service 390 because these services will be convenient for the airport workers coming from different parts of Singapore.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, the request for reinstatement of these two services was made to the PTC sometime after the implementation, and as a result of further surveys done by the PTC and bus operators, the changes were made, as I explained just now, to service 16, because PTC has found that there are sufficient alternatives available for the other changes that were made.

Mr Teo Chong Tee: Sir, the Minister may not be aware that all these services that the Minister has just mentioned are not direct services to the Changi Airport and people coming from far away parts of Singapore have to travel quite a long distance to work in Changi Airport. It incurs a lot of time and is very inconvenient for them. So I urge the Minister to try and persuade the Public Transport Council or SBS to look into this very seriously.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, unless there are other additional data available to the Public Transport Council, I believe the Council has looked at the points that were raised by Mr Teo and they have found sufficient cause to reinstate service 16 in the form of an express service during peak hours. The presumption must be that the alternatives that are available for the off-peak hours are found sufficient or that the number of people affected is not as high and therefore the changes that were made by the operators were approved and no further changes were considered necessary. However, if Mr Teo has any supplementary information, I would be glad to pass them on to the PTC.