SMRT, Brickston likely to run Singapore’s first hybrid buses November 15, 2009
Posted by hafizbam in Bus, Fleet News, Miscellaneous, Private operators, SBS Transit, SMRT, Something New, Transport Events.Tags: ALP Energy, Brickston Transport, hybrid bus, King Long, smrt buses, ST Kinetics
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LATEST UPDATE:
ST Kinetics has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between itself, King Long Singapore and Brickston Transport Services which will see Brickston becoming Singapore’s first bus company to trial a fleet of King Long low-floor city buses fitted with ST Kinetics’ hyPower hybrid electric technology.
Why private operator Brickston seems to be so keen in getting these low-floor city buses remains a question though, since it currently deals mainly with coach charter services such as worker transport. It could be just a way to reduce costs (since the hybrid bus has proven to be able to save up to 30% in fuel consumption) or the start of bigger things to come – like bidding for public bus services when the industry is opened up in the near future.
ST article photo, scanned by Lau Kai Guan.
THE DIESEL-ELECTRIC BUSES CONSUME 30% LESS FUEL AND ARE DISABLED-FRIENDLY
JUST a week after a taxi operator rolled out Singapore’s first hybrid taxis, two green buses are set to hit the roads here.
The buses, which run on a combination of diesel and battery power, are said to use up to 30 per cent less fuel than conventional ones.
As a result, their tailpipe emissions, which are harmful to the environment, will also be cut.
The buses, assembled in China, were the result of a joint venture led by ST Kinetics, a Singapore engineering company better known for its military vehicles.
ST Kinetics teamed up with two other companies to make the hybrid buses: Chinese bus-maker King Long, which supplied the chassis, and ALP Energy, which supplied the lithium battery management system.
The latter is owned by Singapore-born businessman Lim Loong Keng, who is now a Canadian.
ST Kinetics is currently in talks with two bus operators about running trials for the buses.
The Straits Times understands they are SMRT Corp and Brickston Transport, a company whose main business is ferrying factory workers.
ST Kinetics hopes to convince the two firms of the buses’ viability during the trial, and hopes they will order more such coaches in future.
Brickston’s owner Colin Gan, 50, is already swayed by the prospect of lower running costs. ‘First and foremost, it can save fuel. And then it’s also green.
‘I’ve told them, if everything is set, I’m prepared to take 10 coaches.’
An SMRT spokesman would say only that the firm was ’studying the feasibility of adding eco-friendly alternatives, including hybrid buses, to our bus fleet’.
ST Kinetics has dabbled in so-called ‘alternative energy’ vehicles in the past. Since 1997, it has invested more than $80 million in start-ups dealing with such vehicles in the United States, China and South Korea.
Last year, it had a commercial breakthrough when it delivered a fleet of hybrid baggage tow trucks to Changi Airport. In electric mode, the trucks were found to be suitable for the enclosed, air-conditioned areas they often operate in.
The two hybrid buses will be the first diesel-electric vehicles to ply public roads here. The hybrid cars and taxis here are petrol-electric.
Besides their green credentials, the buses also comply with the latest government requirements for public buses – they provide wheelchair-accessibility, for example.
The one drawback of the buses: Cost. At $500,000 apiece, they are between 25 per cent and 30 per cent more expensive than conventional buses.
Bus operators The Straits Times spoke to cited this as a potential hurdle to adopting the vehicles. The uncertainty of the new technology is another, they added.
However, ST Kinetics general manager Mah Chi Jui pointed out that the vehicles’ lower fuel costs mean long-term savings for the operators.
A bus company would take just three years to recoup the extra money spent on a green bus, he said.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s biggest bus company, SBS Transit, said it is also exploring the possibility of buying hybrid buses.
The company has some experience with green buses – SBS Transit already runs 12 compressed natural gas variants here.
In addition, its parent group, ComfortDelGro Corp, owns London public bus operator Metroline, which is currently trying out five hybrid buses there.
A ComfortDelGro spokesman said the London trials have been successful.
Between them, SBS Transit and SMRT operate close to 4,000 buses. There are another 2,500 or so private buses with 35 seats or more. The vast majority run on diesel.
- The Straits Times, page B1, Saturday November 14 2009
SMRT brings in Southeast Asia’s first Mercedes Benz Citaro! November 6, 2009
Posted by hafizbam in Bus, Fleet News, SMRT, Something New, Transport Events.Tags: BlueTec technology, Citaro, Mercedes Benz, SMRT
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A sneak peek at Southeast Asia's first Mercedes Benz Citaro. Photo courtesy of Ho Kok Pern.
Singapore’s bus enthusiasts got all excited this week after learning that the country’s second biggest public bus operator – SMRT Buses – has brought in what everyone has been wishing for: the award-winning Mercedes Benz Citaro citybus!
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro (or O530) is the current Mercedes-Benz/EvoBus mainstream bus intended for public transport, introduced in 1997 and replaced the Mercedes-Benz O405/O405N series. Manufactured in Mannheim (Germany), Ligny-en-Barrois (France) and Sámano (Spain), it features a low floor for easy access.
There is currently one unit resting within the Cycle & Carriage compounds in Teban Gardens. Word has it that it has been imported wholesale from Germany and is awaiting modifications to meet local specifications before hitting the roads. While there are no SMRT logos on the bus, one will definitely not go wrong guessing which company it belongs to from the common red, black and white livery already applied on its body.
Daimler’s press release confirmed SMRT’s order for 66 units of the bus, which features the BlueTec diesel technology already widely used in Europe.
BlueTec in Asia
Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) is the first company in Southeast Asia to put Mercedes-Benz urban buses with BlueTec 5 into operation in short-distance public transport. This means that the BlueTec diesel technology so successfully introduced by Daimler in Europe now also has a presence in Asia. And with an order for 66 Mercedes-Benz Citaro BlueTec urban buses that meet the stringent Euro 5 exhaust standard, the SMRT Corporation in Singapore is setting new benchmarks in Southeast Asia.
This is the third wheelchair-accessible bus model to be brought in by SMRT in the last two years. The first came in the form of Mercedes Benz OC500LEs in Gemilang bodywork, with the second being Singapore’s first Chinese public citybus – a Yutong ZK6126.
Further details with regards to this bus will be posted on this website as and when updates stream in.
You may read more about this bus here.
Price-fixing: Coach companies fined; Transtar Travel received highest penalty November 4, 2009
Posted by hafizbam in Express Coach, Miscellaneous, Transport Events.Tags: coach bus, EBAA, Express Bus Agencies Association, five stars tours, grassland express & tours, gunung raya travel, konsortium express & tours, regent star travel, Transtar Travel, WTS travel & tours
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A Transtar Travel coach. Transtar's fine is the highest among the 17 parties involved. Photo by mynetbizz.
16 OPERATORS COLLUDED TO SET MINIMUM PRICES FOR TICKETS
Sixteen coach operators plying between Singapore and Malaysia and their association have been fined S$1.69 million for price-fixing.
The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) has found the companies and the Executive Bus Agencies Association (EBAA) guilty of setting a minimum price for coach tickets sold here and for a fuel and insurance surcharge on each ticket.
This collusion took place between 2006 and June last year.
The fines, ranging from $10,000 to $518,167, are pegged to the company’s size and the amount earned from the price-fixing.
The total fine is the biggest penalty handed down by the CCS, which promotes healthy competition in the various industries and administers the Competition Act.
In the only other time it has wielded its powers, it fined six pest exterminators a total of $263,000 for bid-rigging in January last year.
In the latest case, the EBAA, which represents 26 coach operators with 60 per cent of the market share, instituted a minimum ticket price for tickets to destinations in Malaysia, including Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Genting Highlands.
This minimum price, first set at $25 in 2005 for a one-way ticket to Kuala Lumpur, edged up to $29 over the years.
Until that $25 minimum price was set, most of these coach companies were charging $20 or $23. A spokesman for one of the companies told the CCS that they were managing to cover their costs even at the lower price, except profits were thinner.
The coach companies said in their defence that they agreed to this minimum price to forestall a price war among themselves.
This cut no ice with the CCS. In its judgement report, it said the practice amounted to “blatant price-fixing”, which deprived consumers of the “efficiencies and innovation” which result when healthy business rivalry prevails.
Although some companies chose to charge less than the minimum agreed upon, the CCS deemed them just as liable because they had been party to the price-fixing.
On the matter of the levying of a fuel and insurance surcharge, the CCS also found out that the EBAA bought insurance policies in bulk at 30 cents, sold them to its members at 50 cents, and then directed them to levy a surcharge – $2 extra in the case of Kuala Lumpur-bound passengers. Over the years, the surcharge was raised to $8.
EBAA spokesman Sebastian Yap, pointing out that the surcharge also covered higher fuel prices, added: “Business has been hit by budget airlines and H1N1. We are just trying to help our members meet costs.”
All parties involved have since stopped imposing the minimum selling price and the surcharge.
Transtar Travel, which received the highest penalty, said it would appeal against the fine.
Konsortium Express & Tours also said it would appeal; Grassland said it would not, while Five Stars Tours and the EBAA were undecided.
The Consumers Association of Singapore’s executive director Seah Seng Choon said the fines send out a “strong signal” about the unacceptability of price collusion.
“Pleading ignorance is no excuse and the law has been there for a long time,” he said. He called on trade associations to educate their members on the Competition Act.
Investigations of the coach companies followed a report in Lianhe Zaobao about the fuel charges levied by coach companies. The CCS found damning evidence in the EBAA’s minutes of meetings and in interviews with EBAA members.
All parties in the latest case have two months to pay the fines. They may, with the CCS’ approval, pay them in instalments.
The CCS has looked into 98 cases of possible infringements of the Act; investigations have been completed for 74, and 24 are still being probed.
- The Straits Times, page A3, Wednesday November 4 2009
Breakdown of penalties imposed:
1. Transtar Travel – $518,617
2. Five Stars Tours – $450,207
3. Konsortium Express & Tours – $337,635
4. Regent Star Travel – $103,875
5. Gunung Raya Travel – $76,668
6. GR Travel – $52,432
7. Grassland Express & Tours – $ 27,706
8. Sri Maju Tours & Travel – $ 24,600
9. Enjoy Holiday Tour – $23,425
10. WTS Travel & Tours – $13,611
11. Alisan – $10,807
12. Travelzone Network Services – $10,000
13. T&L Tours – $10,000
14. Nam Ho Travel Service – $10,000
15. Lapan Lapan Travel – $10,000
16. Luxury Tours & Travel – $10,000
17. Express Bus Agencies Association – $10,000
TOTAL: S$1,699,133
A big win for the budget airlines competing in the same markets, especially the Singapore – Kuala Lumpur route, now that potential customers will think twice about where their money is going to. Nevertheless, with lower fares and more point-to-point services, demand for express coach services should not be hit too hard by this bad publicity.
I’m just wondering if I had been charged more than I should for the Transtar ticket I just bought. Hmm…
Ride Free with SMRT October 22, 2009
Posted by hafizbam in Miscellaneous, SMRT, Transport Events.Tags: promotion, public transport, Ride Free with SMRT
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The promotions just keep coming one after another.
The latest by SMRT is the Ride Free with SMRT promotion which kicked off on 16 October 2009. This comes just after it ended the Go Green With SMRT campaign a few weeks back.
Similar to past promotions, all you have to do to qualify for the prizes offered is to simply ride SMRT trains, LRT and buses which will give you one chance per trip. Ride an SMRT taxi and submit your receipt to earn 3 chances per trip. And if you do not travel with SMRT often, just shop within the SMRT network as every $10 will get you one chance.
And if you want to increase your winning chances, simply register your ez-link CEPAS cards online at https://www.ridesmrtandwin.com/index.aspx!
The prizes this time round though are not as exciting as per previous promotions, but are more practical for the regular commuter. Two persons will stand to win six months free travel with SMRT every month and 10 others can earn $20 SMRT vouchers. The grand draw to be held in June 2010 will see four lucky people walking away with $1000 worth of SMRT vouchers and three years free travel with SMRT. That certainly beats a one-off overseas holiday prize! You may also want to try your luck at the seven monthly on-the-spot draws where $20 SMRT vouchers will be given away.
What is not widely known about these SMRT promotions though, is that they actually compete with other marketing campaigns by other transport operators worldwide. For instance, the last “Escape with SMRT” promotion managed to beat 60 other public transport marketing campaigns from Asia, Australia, Latin America, North America and Europe for a spot as a finalist in the 4th International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Marketing Awards. SMRT won the Best Printed Campaign award under the Public’s Choice category.
Travel Malaysia Fair 2009 October 17, 2009
Posted by hafizbam in Bus, Express Coach, Miscellaneous, Transport Events.Tags: Suntec City, Transtar Travel, EBAA, malaysia tourism, express bus agency association, travel malaysia fair, five stars tours, lapan lapan travel, sri maju tours & travel, regent star travel, konsortium express & tours, luxury tours & travel, WTS travel & tours, hasry singapore
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What: Travel Malaysia Fair 2009 (includes display of 8 express bus coaches) – admission is free!
When: 16 to 18 October 2009, Friday to Sunday; 1000 to 2130 hours
Where: Suntec Singapore Convention Centre Hall 404
How: By train: Alight at City Hall station and walk through CityLink Mall or take the free shuttle bus from the bus stop at Coleman Street. By bus: 10, 10e, 14, 16, 36, 70, 70M, 97, 106, 107M, 111, 133, 162M, 196, 196e, 502, 518, 531, 541, 546, 547, 597, 700A, 857, NR1
http://www.ebaa.sg
Express Bus Agencies Association (EBAA) is pleased to present once again our annual edition of Travel Malaysia 2009 travel fair to be held on 16th – 18th October 2009 at Hall 404, Suntec Convention Centre. The three days event will be the largest and most comprehensive tourism exhibition on Malaysia as a favourite destination for the year end holidays. The three days event is expected to draw a crowd turnout of about 30,000.
In cooperation with Tourism Malaysia, the main highlights of the event are the State Pavilions where the various states of Malaysia flaunt a unique mélange of attractions and holiday destinations as well as a multitude of special products. The fair will also showcase and display the state of the art and most up to date exclusive express bus and coaches by EBAA member companies.
Travel Malaysia 2009 is supported by Malaysia Tourism Promotional Board (MTPB) as the Title Sponsor and is co-sponsored by AIG, Genting International, Awana Resort, OCBC Bank and Star Cruises. Travel Malaysia 2009 includes key exhibitors from the tour and travel industries, hotel and resort, theme park, golf and recreation resorts, service provider of transport, travel agents, eco tourism, property investment, health tourism, shopping, entertainment, adventure holidays and NTOs from Malaysia.
A total of 85 exhibitors occupying a floor area of 4,000 sqm comprising 133 booths and display of 8 premium express buses will be put up for the event. Of these 133 booths, 60 booths were allocated to Tourism Malaysia HQ for their exhibitors by the respective state tourism boards.
Extracted from Suntec Singapore’s calendar of events and http://www.ebaa.sg/.
Members of the EBAA include Transtar Travel, Five Stars Tours, Lapan Lapan Travel, Sri Maju Tours & Travel, Regent Star Travel, Konsortium Express & Tours, Luxury Tours & Travel, WTS Travel & Tours and Hasry Singapore. Something that might be interesting to note – both SMRT Bus Plus and ComfortDelGro Bus are associate members of this grouping as well.
Express coach firm Transtar cuts Singapore-KL fares October 13, 2009
Posted by hafizbam in Bus, Miscellaneous, Transport Events.Tags: singapore, coach bus, Transtar Travel, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, KL, Transtar Classic, Travel Malaysia Fair 2009, Express Bus Agencies Association, EBAA
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Published in The Straits Times today (Home page 2) is an article by Maria Almenoar featuring coach firm Transtar which is offering new non-stop basic Classic class bus rides between Singapore and Malaysia. Tickets are being offered at a low promotional fare of only S$9 and can be booked at the three-day Travel Malaysia fair to be held over this weekend at the Suntec Convention Centre.
Other firms also seek ways to regain business from budget carriers.
Hit hard by budget carriers flying their route, express coach companies are starting to fight back.
One company, Transtar Travel, is planning a promotion with half-price tickets to Kuala Lumpur. It will offer S$9 one-way tickets to the first 9,900 customers travelling between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur on its new express coach service.
The offer can be booked at the three-day Travel Malaysia fair starting on Friday at Suntec Convention Centre, where seven bus companies will have booths. These promotional seats are normally priced at $17 and offer the usual perks of reclining seats, shared entertainment screens and a food and beverage bar. One-way express bus tickets rang from about $20 to more than $60 depending on how luxurious the coach is.
Transtar executive director Sebastian Yap said business has been down by about 30 per cent since caps were lifted last December on how many flights budget carriers could make on the route.
Every year, more than 1.5 million people hop on express coaches and head for Kuala Lumpur. Since the opening up of skies between Singapore and Malaysia, however, bus companies are reporting a drop of about 30 per cent to 40 per cent.
The Singapore-Kuala Lumpur sector is now served by 11 airlines and is the busiest out of Changi Airport, with 498 flights both ways a week.
Flights take about 45 minutes, but passengers need to check in and make a trip to and from the airport, bringing the total time to five hours, similar to travelling by bus.
“We cannot just sit around and hope that we won’t get hurt… We have to come up with ways to bring people back to the buses,” said Mr Yap, also the chairman of the sub-committee that oversees events promotion and terminal operations at the Express Bus Agencies Association.
The association has 22 members, including big guns such as Five Star Tours, Sri Maju Tours & Travel, and Luxury Tours & Travel, which account for about 60 per cent of the Singapore-Malaysia express bus traffic.
Transtar, with a fleet of 50 coaches running the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur sector 12 times a day, is one of the bigger players in the market, so the likelihood is that other companies will follow suit with lower fares soon, said Mr Yap.
His low-fare deal is a promotional offer for a new class of coach service called Transtar Classic. This line will be scaled down from his high-end coach services, which comes with 18 reclining seats that double as massage chairs, individual entertainment screens and food from Delifrance. Transtar Classic will have 61 seats and run non-stop to Kuala Lumpur three times a day.
Other bus firms are not sure that competing on price alone is the best strategy.
Mr Ismail Abdul Rahman, director of Hasry Singapore, said lower fares would attract more people, but sustainability would be an issue. He is considering raising the level of service and convenience instead, like having Internet connection on the bus.
For construction firm owner Brandon Lim, who takes the bus regularly to Malaysia, the perks mean little. “Planes don’t get me door-to-door, and I have to spend extra time and money on getting to and from the airport. Bus is always better,” he said.
At the end of the day, the customer wins. Lower fares and even more amenities to suit the diverse needs of commuters during their five-hour bus rides will only help make express buses a more worthy choice mode of transport to the Malaysian capital.
The only factor lacking now is a proper intercity bus/coach terminal in Singapore – a facility already commonly found in other countries, and which the Singapore government can certainly provide – to enhance the overall experience for bus commuters even before and after their long journeys.
Click here to visit Transtar Travel’s website.
