About ten years ago, I wrote an article about public transport. It was printed in the Straits Times.
One suggestion was to run buses with limited stops and to serve the intermediate stops with a feeder service. This will cut down the time for a bus journey.
I did not get any response from the Land Transport Authority. Nobody bothered to engage me.
I recently found that this idea was implemented under the "Fast Forward" service by SBS.
Quote
Fast Forward, via a combination of having fewer stops and flexible routing in non-stop sectors to avoid traffic congestion allows the service to deliver travel time savings of up to 20%. Operating only during the morning and evening peak hours to meet our commuter's needs for faster and more comfortable travel from home to work and vice versa. There are eight Fast Forward services in operation today (10e, 14e, 30e, 74e, 89e, 151e, 174e, 196e).
Unquote.
I did not hear any publicity about this service. It is now applied only to a few stops.
I suspect that this concept did not take off. Why?
I did some research and was horrified to learn that the fare for the Fast Foreward service is about 70% higher than the normal fare. This is shown in the fare table at the bus stop.
The reason for the higher fare is that there is less demand for this service. This is ridiculous.
One suggestion was to run buses with limited stops and to serve the intermediate stops with a feeder service. This will cut down the time for a bus journey.
I did not get any response from the Land Transport Authority. Nobody bothered to engage me.
I recently found that this idea was implemented under the "Fast Forward" service by SBS.
Quote
Fast Forward, via a combination of having fewer stops and flexible routing in non-stop sectors to avoid traffic congestion allows the service to deliver travel time savings of up to 20%. Operating only during the morning and evening peak hours to meet our commuter's needs for faster and more comfortable travel from home to work and vice versa. There are eight Fast Forward services in operation today (10e, 14e, 30e, 74e, 89e, 151e, 174e, 196e).
Unquote.
I did not hear any publicity about this service. It is now applied only to a few stops.
I suspect that this concept did not take off. Why?
I did some research and was horrified to learn that the fare for the Fast Foreward service is about 70% higher than the normal fare. This is shown in the fare table at the bus stop.
The reason for the higher fare is that there is less demand for this service. This is ridiculous.
There is less demand because you are charging a higher fare, and you are not publicising the service. Right?
I can say, with great disappointment, that this is the quality of the planning under LHL's government. Why did he put in place people who think in this manner? Why did this people not have a public discussion on this matter?
I still think that this concept will work, if it is publicised and the normal fare is charged.
Let me explain how this will work.
I take bus 163 to work. Suppose they convert it to a limited stop service numbered 163e that stops at the major stops, which are identified with a special pole.
If the bus stop near my home is not a major stop, I will take a feeder service a few stops to the next major stop. I will then catch 163e to my office.
If my office is not a major stop, I will get off the bus at a major stop before that and change to a feeder service.
Changing buses is quite easy. I do it quite often. I get off the bus and wait for the next bus at the same stop. The waiting time should be quite short for a feeder service. I am referring to a new system of feeder service that serves the intermediate stops. It should arrive within two or three minutes.
Under this Fast Forward service, the journey time should reduce by 20%, even allowing changing to feeder services. There is a big saving in time when the FF bus does not have to stop at the intermediate stops.
I hope that the Land Transport Authority take up this suggestion and contact me for a discussion0
.
I can say, with great disappointment, that this is the quality of the planning under LHL's government. Why did he put in place people who think in this manner? Why did this people not have a public discussion on this matter?
I still think that this concept will work, if it is publicised and the normal fare is charged.
Let me explain how this will work.
I take bus 163 to work. Suppose they convert it to a limited stop service numbered 163e that stops at the major stops, which are identified with a special pole.
If the bus stop near my home is not a major stop, I will take a feeder service a few stops to the next major stop. I will then catch 163e to my office.
If my office is not a major stop, I will get off the bus at a major stop before that and change to a feeder service.
Changing buses is quite easy. I do it quite often. I get off the bus and wait for the next bus at the same stop. The waiting time should be quite short for a feeder service. I am referring to a new system of feeder service that serves the intermediate stops. It should arrive within two or three minutes.
Under this Fast Forward service, the journey time should reduce by 20%, even allowing changing to feeder services. There is a big saving in time when the FF bus does not have to stop at the intermediate stops.
I hope that the Land Transport Authority take up this suggestion and contact me for a discussion0
.
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