Fight against dengue goes purple

Volvo B10M SBS2749L on the 335 leaving Jurong East Interchange. It is one of those whose black dengue advertisements got replaced with this current purple/blue version.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has decided to continue its series of anti-dengue advertisements on buses. The latest version of the advertisement is exactly the same as the previous black one, but it’s in purple/blue now. It looks okay on normal single decks and bendy buses, but rather ugly on SMRT’s OC500LEs. Haven’t seen a purpled double deck yet though.

LTA reassures Singaporeans over public transport travel in light of H1N1 flu outbreak

The following is extracted from the Land Transport Authority:

In light of the H1N1 outbreak in several countries, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is working closely with the respective public transport operators, taxi companies and the Taxi Operators’ Association to put in place precautionary measures in our public transport system. Some of the measures in place include stepping up the cleaning and disinfecting of buses, trains and taxis. Taxi drivers are also advised to issue receipts to all passengers to facilitate contact tracing if necessary.

There is no need for commuters to avoid travelling on public transport. The LTA is monitoring the situation closely and working with the relevant authorities to review and step up measures if necessary.

The Ministry of Health advises the public to adopt good hygiene practices. Those with flu-like symptoms should wear a mask and seek medical attention promptly. They should also disclose their travel histories to their doctors.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q
Is it safe to use public transport?
A
It is still safe to use public transport. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and reassess when there are further developments.

Q
In light of the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in several countries, what measures are being taken by our public transport operators and taxi companies to ensure that the health of their passengers is not compromised?

A
The public transport operators, SBST and SMRT, are stepping up measures to disinfect their premises, common areas, buses, trains and taxis. They have updated their staff on influenza A (H1N1) and also advised them against non-essential travel to affected countries. Staff who return from affected countries will be monitored closely for the development of any flu-like symptoms. The public transport operators will also issue Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to their staff if required.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA), together with the taxi companies and the Taxi Operators’ Association (TOA) has advised taxi drivers to practice good personal hygiene, avoid non-essential travel to affected countries, clean and disinfect their taxis more often and to seek medical treatment immediately and not to drive if they are unwell. Taxi drivers should also issue receipts to passengers and advise them to retain the receipt in case of contact tracing. The taxi companies will issue Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to their drivers if required.

Q
What precautions do I need to take when travelling on public transport to reduce the risk of being infected?

A
Commuters are advised to take similar precautions as they would when they are in public places. Those who are unwell should wear a mask to reduce the risk of infecting others.

Q
Will taxi companies put in place precautionary measures to ensure that the risk of infection to their drivers is minimised, especially those picking up passengers from the airport?

A
The taxi companies and the Taxi Operator Associations (TOA) have updated taxi drivers on influenza A (H1N1) and also advised them against non-essential travel to affected countries. Taxi drivers who are unwell should not drive and are to seek medical attention immediately.

Although thermal screening has been implemented at Changi Airport, taxi drivers frequenting the airport should still exercise caution and seek medical attention if they develop flu-like symptoms. Taxi drivers should also issue receipts to all passengers and advise them to retain the receipts to facilitate contact tracing.

Related links:

Ministry of Health

www.flu.gov.sg

World Health Organisation

Bedok revisited: a decade of bus-related changes

About a decade ago when I was still calling Bedok home, its feeder buses were operated with the non-airconditioned Alexander-bodied Scania N113CRBs well-known for their quiet engines. Green and white plated service 221 had Leyland Atlanteans. Services 7 and 14 which can get me to the Orchard Road shopping belt had just received their double-decks, be it the non-airconditioned two-axle Volvo Olympians or the first airconditioned double deckers in Singapore in the shape of Leyland Olympians or better known as the “SuperBus” to many.

Of course, SBS Transit was still known as Singapore Bus Services then, and TIBS operated its yellow and orange buses on service 854, with subsidiary Singapore Shuttle Bus running its orange Nissans and Hispano-bodied DAFs on the 608.

A Volvo B10M Mk 3 with Duple Metsec bodywork running service 225 (white plate). Behind it is the old Princess theatre which has just recently ceased operations, and is very likely to be demolished.

Fast forward to today and the changes can never be more stark.

Singapore’s last non-airconditioned single deck public buses – the N113CRBs – have been scrapped. Taking their place are the new Scania K230UBs. Not only are they airconditioned, they are the first wheelchair-accessible single deck public buses in Singapore. And there are now 900 of them roaming the entire island. Needless to say, all the feeder bus services in Bedok have been converted into fully airconditioned services. Impressively, routes 222 and 225 even gained double decks!

Gone too are the non-airconditioned double-decks; not only have they been replaced by airconditioned counterparts, some services like the 7 and 14 even received the country’s first wheelchair-accessible double-decks in the form of Volvo B9TLs fitted with our very own ComfortDelGro Engineering bodywork. And they are rather stylish to boot.

Above all else, the dull red stripes of SBS have given way to a much more inspiring and colourful livery consisting of the purple and orange shaping the new multi-modal SBS Transit. The same cannot be said for SMRT Buses though. The bright and sunny yellow and orange have sadly succumbed to the dull corporate lines of the train company that bought it over (whether or not the takeover was appropriate is still under debate till today!).

Volvo Olympian double deck buses have been deployed on both services 225 (green plate) and 225 (white plate), both of which used to be run with a full fleet of single decks.

TIBS has evolved into SMRT Buses, and it has made its increasing presence in the east felt, after gaining route 67 and the chartered free shuttle service to the IKEA home furnishings store in Tampines. It no longer utilises the parallel end-on parking berths in the interchange but instead, takes up one of the sawtooth berths to accomodate the long bendy buses. CSS 608 has long been withdrawn following the company’s policy of divesting itself off unprofitable routes – resulting in the demise of the Singapore Shuttle Bus company at the same time.

Gone too are some routes like the 34, 219 (renumbered to current 229), 226 (merged with 385 to form 60), 227 (merged with 17) as well as the old 229 and 221 which merged to become Bedok’s only Townlink feeder bus route 222. Others which survived relatively untouched till today saw changes in terms of frequency and deployment of buses. My former feeder bus service – the 225 – for instance, no longer see Scania N113CRBs but in their place are Volvo B10Ms and even Volvo Olympian double decks!

However, Bedok did not only see redundancies being cut. Additions and alterations also took place every now and then. The bus interchange itself was minimally spruced up to increase the level of comfort for commuters utilising what is arguably the oldest bus interchage in Singapore still standing strong. More passing through bus routes such as the 45 and 59 surfaced, even while others like Express 506 got extended to Upper East Coast.

Bedok (together with Tampines) also witnessed the introduction of SBS’ first bus service to serve Woodlands town proper and terminate at Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange. This was the 168 and it helped shorten travel time between the north and east drastically by taking advantage of the northern express route (SLE and TPE).

Former services 221 and 219 were merged to become TownLink service 222, which has progressed to gain some Volgren-bodied Volvo B10TL Super Olympians; one of which is seen here parked at Bedok Interchange wearing a full-body advertisement by NEA on dengue fever prevention measures.

With the LTA taking over the role as master planner and plans for one of those integrated airconditioned developments planned for Bedok, I am definitely ready to marvel at the changes coming the way of this old HDB town in the coming decade. Hopefully, some landmarks will be retained not only for the sake of nostalgia, but for the very laid-back character of Bedok. After all, would you really want to see the same old boring shopping centre and condominium development at every train station?

Welcome onboard SMRT bus… or is it SBS Transit?

One of the many SMRT buses to have received purple and pink vinyl cushion seats. The pink seats are supposedly reserved for those with greater need. Photo courtesy of Varun Naidu.

SMRT’s recent refurbishment exercise for its older Hispano-bodied Mercedes Benz 0405 buses, which makes up at least half its bus fleet, may have left some passengers wondering whether their bus service had been taken over by rival SBS Transit.

The green fabric seats which have become synonymous with TIBS SMRT buses, are quickly being replaced with thicker purple and pink-coloured vinyl cushions. Yes, nowhere near the corporate colours of SMRT of red and black. But very close to that of SBS Transit’s purple and orange.

To add to the confusion, some buses which have been refurbished earlier on in the year had their fabric seats replaced with similar vinyl cushions – only green in colour – like those on the Volgren-bodied Mercedes Benz 0405 buses.

So far, all but one bus to have undergone the purple treatment are based at Woodlands Depot, with the odd one out from Ang Mo Kio Depot.

And all this is in addition to the existing black seats on the Hispano Habit and Volgren bendies; green seats on other bendies, some Dennis Lances, DAFs, Scanias and Hinos; as well as black and red seats for their latest wheelchair accessible 0C500LEs.

The interior of our buses may become more colourful and the choice of seat colours may be questionable. But whatever the motive behind these choices may be, the new seats are definitely more comfortable to sit on! (Great for those long journeys that tend to cause back and butt pains!)

Volvo double deck gets electronic display

SBS9618K with its new electronic display for service 168 at Woodlands Regional Interchange. Behind it is an unusual appearance of a Volvo B10TL Super Olympian SBS9888Y on service 161. Photo courtesy of Jack Aw Yong.

SBS Transit finally runs a bus with an electronic number and destination display into Woodlands town – and it’s not a Scania nor a Trident.

In an unexpected move, the company fitted an electronic display system into one of its ageing Volvo Olympian double decker buses, which makes up the bulk of its double decker fleet. SBS9618K has been chosen to be the demonstrator unit and it is currently deployed on service 168 running between Bedok and Woodlands via Tampines. The manufacturer of the electronic display is japanese firm Lecip Corp, which I understand was one of the (unsuccessful) bidders to supply electronic displays for the Scania K230UB wheelchair-accessible buses.

As it turns out, the display is at best, disappointing. While it is bright, the numbers on the right appear a blob of orange when seen from far. The display at the nearside of the bus next to the entrance door is similar to the new Scanias’ – the via points keep scrolling. A rear number display is also fitted. Clearly its small size shows that the display is meant to be fitted onto a single deck bus, rather than a double deck which, as had been done with other units around the world, should be fitted with a much larger version allowing passengers to see the number from afar, nevermind if they cannot see the destination.

The effort to install electronic displays into more buses is one that is appreciated and should be encouraged. However, the bus companies have to ensure that their efforts do not go to waste; that their new displays not only overcome the shortfalls of using traditional blinds or plastic/metal plates, but can also benefit the commuting public. Bearing in mind that the local population is going to see an increasing proportion of the elderly, small number displays are definitely not the right way forward.

Perhaps this is precisely the reason why Transport for London still makes it mandatory for buses in the city to still be using blinds instead of opting for electronic displays despite all their flexibility and advancements since the flip-dot matrix technology.

Regardless, it is rather questionable for SBS Transit to install the electronic displays onto the older batch of Volvo Olympians instead of its newest Volvo B9TLs, unless of course they are thinking of selling off the Olympians at a higher value instead of sending them out for scrap. Then again, it is best for these Lecip displays to go off the roads sooner rather than later, especially if more buses are slated to go through the same fate as SBS9618K.

Bendy buses on service 171

TIB1113J on service 171. Courtesy of Jack Aw Yong.

In a very unusual move, SMRT deployed a couple of bendy buses on the 171 over the weekend. This was in conjunction with the PC Show 2009 being held at the Suntec City convention halls and the expected crowds it would bring.

All bendy buses deployed were from Ang Mo Kio Depot, which is also running all the wheelchair-accessible Mercedes Benz OC500LEs on the service. Service 171 is a dual-depot controlled service, with minority control by Woodlands Depot.

Service 171 runs between Yishun and Marina Centre via Mandai, Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah and Orchard Road. The company has just announced that the service will call at a new pair of bus stops outside and opposite the Mandai Crematorium & Columbarium along Mandai Avenue, the only bus stops along the road.

SMRT launches its first wheelchair-accessible bus services

The first wheelchair-accessible SMRT bus to hit the roads - SMB1H.

After nearly a year after its first wheelchair-accessible Mercedes Benz bus hit the streets, SMRT Buses has finally officially declared seven of its bus services to be wheelchair-accessible from 1 June 2009.

The services are:
171 – Yishun to Marina Centre
172 – Choa Chu Kang to Boon Lay
189 – Bukit Batok to Kent Ridge
307 – Choa Chu Kang feeder service
811 – Yishun feeder service
851 – Yishun to Bukit Merah
945 – Bukit Batok feeder service

Rectification works to infrastructure were cited for the delay in launching such services (this includes special boarding berths at bus interchanges for the wheelchair-bound). Perhaps the most useful services to be converted in this initial batch is service 851 which serves a substantial number or elderly passengers as well as plenty of medical facilities. And the feeder bus services which can finally enable a wheelchair-bound commuter getting off the wheelchair-accessible train to actually reach home.

More information here.

SMRT seems to have gone a little further than rival SBS Transit in this area. Wheelchair-accessible buses have clear information stickers pasted at prominent locations throughout the bus as well as bus interchanges. But it could still face the problem of arising confusion when a wheelchair-accessible bus is deployed on a non wheelchair-accessible route on a temporary basis, no thanks to the blue wheelchair logo displayed prominently at the front of the bus.

Nonetheless, its announcement of another batch of 66 similar wheelchair-accessible buses to be rolled out by this year is definitely something to look forward to.

New operator brings new bus service into Sin Ming and Upper Thomson

The sole Toyota Coaster midibus in service on Premium service 721 by Cheery Bus terminating at Marymount MRT Station.

In a surprising move which many would least expect, a new bus service sprang to life the same day the Circle Line MRT commenced revenue service on 28 May 2009.

A new entrant to the public bus market, Cheery Bus launched new premium service 721 running from the new Marymount Station along Marymount Road to Sin Ming Avenue and Upper Thomson Road. Essentially, this new route is a short feeder bus service running in a continuous loop. Which is probably why the choice of service number is not in the usual 5xx range.

The route creates a useful link for the housing estates along Sin Ming Avenue and Upper Thomson, as well as Thomson Plaza, to the new nearest train station for the area. Before this week, it took at least 15 minutes to get to Bishan Station.

Map showing the route of Premium 721 indicated in blue. Service runs in anti-clockwise direction.

Only one midibus is deployed to begin and end service at the bus stop pick-up point outside the new Marymount Station entrance along Marymount Road at a frequency of 30 minutes, except for certain times of the day when the frequency is stretched, most likely for meal breaks and such. The service runs from Mondays to Saturdays from 0620 to 1930 hours only. A flat fare of $1.10 is charged, however, do not expect to find any ez-link card readers onboard the bus. Neither is there any form of transfer rebate even if you had just alighted from the train (a huge disincentive for the regular commuter heavily reliant on the ez-link card!). More details can be found here (the standard of basic English used can definitely be improved!).

As expected, the bus was empty when I took it this afternoon. Though it’s stated on the Cheery Bus website that the service is a one-man operation, there is a “conductor” accompanying the driver throughout. The driver stops  the bus and opens the door at every bus stop along the route in an apparent bid to increase publicity about the new service – only to receive cold stares and puzzled looks by those waiting for other buses. It doesn’t help either that only a piece of paper stating “Marymount MRT” was plastered at the side of the bus. To bolster demand, the company may want to serve  the Sin Ming industrial estate enroute since only one bus service – SBST 130 – serves that area at the moment.

While such a shuttle bus service obviously do not warrant the classification of being a ”premium”, it is commendable on the part of private operators to get around the tight restrictions imposed by the Public Transport Council (PTC) to fill in the important gaps left out by giants SBS Transit and SMRT. Whether or not the services survive though, is entirely dependant on demand which has to be generated by sufficient publicity – something the private operators currently lack and need to work hard on.

New uniforms for SMRT staff

A line-up of SMRT Corporation's new uniform for its frontline and maintenance staff featuring the company's corporate colours.

Singaporeans travelling on the SMRT network of buses and trains from today would have noticed a striking difference.

All frontline and maintenance staff of SMRT, from bus drivers (or Service Leaders as they prefer to call them) to customer service officers at train stations, will now don red tops paired with black pants together with optional vests to keep out the cold (though I seriously believe this does not apply to their oven-like buses!).

The old purple and blue combo has been around for about five years, and was part of the transformation of SMRT into one unified company following its acquisition of much-beloved TIBS (yes, TIBS had the nicest uniforms around with the bright yellow shirts and brown pants).

This uniform change was also cleverly timed to coincide with the opening of their brand new fully automatic Circle Line train line for revenue service, indicating another new chapter for the award-winning company.

SMRT Express Service 963E goes bi-directional

SMRT Express service 963E, which used to run only from Woodlands to HarbourFront every weekday morning, will from 11 May make evening trips back from HarbourFront to Woodlands during weekdays as well.

Two trips leaving HarbourFront at 1800 and 1830 hours will skip certain less-utilised bus stops and heavily congested roads to reach Bukit Batok East, Hillview, Bukit Panjang and Woodlands at up to 20% faster than its parent service 963.

While I applaud any service enhancements which can offer alternatives for the commuting public (even though they may charge slightly more expensive fares), I seriously doubt this Express variant of service 963 would be able to reduce much journey time. This is mainly because by and large, it still follows closely the route of service 963 which for some unknown reason, just has to ply the busiest of roads during peak hours. Not to mention the numerous traffic light junctions every few hundred metres.

Express fares are charged and concessionary travel is not applicable, which would make sense, since this seems to be more of an effort by SMRT to squeeze out more cents from the rush hour crowd.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the other two Express services – 188E and 854E – gets their evening trips as well soon.

A more detailed timetable and route information for Express service 963E (PM peak) can be found here.