CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (Bus lane restrictions on Saturday mornings)

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Transport whether, in view of the much lower traffic volume on Saturday mornings, his Ministry will lift restriction on or review the bus lane operating hours in the Central Business District on those mornings.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan) (for the Minister for Transport): Sir, unlike the new Ministry of Health's discharge policy which is only one month old, bus lanes have been around for nearly 30 years. I do not know whether new policies attract more supplementary questions or old policies. I shall know shortly.

Sir, bus lanes are needed to facilitate the smooth flow of public buses. It gives priority to buses, enabling them to better adhere to their schedules. In this way, we have brought benefits to millions of bus commuters every day.

Bus lanes are implemented only along roads where the bus volume is very high. On Saturdays, we operate from 7.30 am to 9.30 am, and from 11.30 am to 2.00 pm.

Although overall traffic in certain parts of the Central Business District (CBD) may be lower on Saturday mornings as compared to weekdays, the frequency and volume of buses in the CBD area do not change very much. In fact, in other parts of the CBD, like Orchard Road and Bras Basah Road, overall traffic remains heavy on Saturday mornings. Therefore, the Ministry of Transport does not intend to lift the bus lane restrictions on Saturday mornings.

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang (Aljunied): Since the policy is to ensure a smooth traffic flow and on Saturday mornings, most of the areas in the CBD are already experiencing smooth traffic, should the Ministry not have a periodic review on this? In fact, the ERP in the CBD area on Saturdays has been lifted which suggests that the flow of traffic is very smooth and there is no need for another policy to restrict it.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: I think it depends on the volume of buses. We have checked. For example, on Saturday mornings, bus schedules remain quite heavy, as compared to weekdays. Yes, on Sundays, the schedules come down significantly. But as far as bus companies are concerned, they treat Saturdays as similar to weekdays. If I may give you some examples of the streets around this area. Hill Street, for example, on weekdays, in the morning, bus volume is about 164 per hour, ie, about two or three buses every minute. On Saturdays, it is 149 or 150, so there is not much difference. On Sundays, it comes down very drastically, about 130. Bras Basah Road, on weekdays, it is 180; Saturday mornings, 165. So it remains quite heavy.

I know the concern. We have built roads and roads are expensive. We do not want to under-utilise the resources. Therefore, we are extremely selective when we decide on which roads to impose bus lanes. Although the working criterion is about 50 buses per hour, which is one bus per every 60-70 seconds, in practice, where we impose bus lanes, the bus volumes triple those rates.

Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir): I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State about the cameras being installed in buses. Are they still being installed and are they effective?

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Sir, they are being installed. Those are called bus-cams and they have been effective in discouraging violators. We still receive cases every month - I cannot remember the figures - but not many. Obviously, they have worked.