Saturday 17 March 2012

The return of bus services along MRT lines

Bus services that run parallel to MRT lines are making a comeback, two decades after a firm stance against them for fear of wasteful duplication of resources. Transport reporters Goh Chin Lian and Royston Sim find out whether they make sense.
The Straits Times, 15 Mar 2012

NOT too long ago, route planners made it their mission to scrub off their maps bus services that ran parallel to MRT lines.

Their aim: Shepherd commuters to the multi-billion-dollar train network.

But just last week, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew announced that eight new 'parallel' bus routes would be introduced as part of a $1.1 billion injection to quickly ramp up the bus network here while new rail lines are being built.

The routes will take office workers from far-flung housing estates like Tampines, Sengkang, Yishun, Woodlands, Choa Chu Kang and Jurong West right into the heart of the financial district.

This move, amid unhappiness with crowded trains at peak hours, marks a departure from earlier government policy.

Between 1991 and 1994, transport operators scrapped or amended 140 bus services to better integrate buses and trains as part of a massive 'rationalisation exercise' to avoid duplication of resources.

The same reasons were given a decade later, in 2003, when planners withdrew or rerouted 12 bus services that ran along the newly opened North-East Line, despite loud protests from commuters.

But the winds changed in 2008, as the population boomed with the inflow of foreigners and trains became packed. Then-Transport Minister Raymond Lim said the long-held policy would be relaxed to make public transport more attractive.

But until the recent Budget debate, when the $1.1 billion package was announced, only three services were introduced in four years.

SBS Transit unveiled Service 128 in 2008 to go from Yio Chu Kang to Shenton Way in peak hours. In 2010, SMRT rolled out Service 868, which runs from Bukit Batok to Temasek Avenue, and Service BPS1 last year. It travels along the Bukit Panjang LRT line to Choa Chu Kang MRT station.

From the third quarter of this year, six of the eight new routes will be progressively introduced, quadrupling the parallel bus services to the Central Business District.

They will serve HDB estates along mature rail lines to provide commuters with more transport alternatives, said a spokesman for the Land Transport Authority.

These routes will take the fastest route to the CBD after picking up passengers from housing estates, offering comparable travel time to the MRT, she said.

The LTA will review the six routes before deciding on the remaining two.

She said: 'Past experiences have shown that commuters may ultimately still prefer the faster travel that trains offer, even when the trains are crowded.'


Road versus rail

HOWEVER, existing parallel bus services to the CBD as well as premium bus services mirroring the MRT lines appear to have won the favour of commuters.

Instead of being caught in traffic snarls, the journey can be smooth and more comfortable, giving commuters a chance to sit and steal a nap, as The Straits Times found out when we hopped onto Services 128 and 868 this week.

Commuters also walk less when the bus takes them door to door. They need not wait for a feeder bus or make multiple transfers. Journeys can be faster.

ST found that a trip from Bukit Batok to Suntec City using feeder bus service 945, transferring to the MRT at Bukit Gombak station, then changing trains at Jurong East to go to City Hall, plus a walk through CityLink Mall took one hour and five minutes.

But Service 868 reached the same spot in less than an hour - 54 minutes to be exact - on Monday morning using the Ayer Rajah Expressway.

Even if it rains, as it did yesterday, this does not change much: ST took one hour and six minutes to complete the journey. Road conditions were also atypical as a two-car crash on Robinson Road slowed traffic down.

The journey on Service 128 from Ang Mo Kio to Shenton Way took 45 minutes on Monday, roughly the same as if one were to take a feeder bus to Ang Mo Kio MRT station, hop on the train and then walk to the office.

The parallel buses were also more comfortable than the shoulder-to-shoulder situation on the trains: The MRT line mirrored by Service 868 was packed on the east-bound train towards City Hall, with the crowds thinning only after Tanjong Pagar station.

The aisle of Service 868 was also full but people were not packed like sardines. It was the same on Service 128.

Parallel services cost more though: Service 868 cost $2.35 compared with $1.66 for bus and train; Service 128 cost $1.47, compared with $1.35 on the bus and the train.

Still, commuters like administrative executive Alice Tang, 60, prefer the parallel buses. Before taking Service 868, she used to walk seven minutes from her home to Bukit Batok MRT station. In heavy rain, she would be drenched even if she had an umbrella.

And, she said, 'it's so crowded on the train. People stand at the exit door and some even elbow you'.

Senior marketing manager Harish Agarwal, 31, said taking Service 128 meant he had to walk less to get to his Cecil Street office. He said: 'I don't sweat as much.'

Although SBS Transit said ridership remained 'very low' for Service 128, SMRT said Service 868 was popular. Neither operator provided ridership figures.

Another indicator of the popularity of such routes are the over 60 premium buses that ply the housing estate-CBD route. They have a flat fare, cost more - $2.70 to $7 - and all passengers have to be seated.

SMRT said its 10 premium buses had good ridership while SBS Transit said demand for its 31 premium bus services was growing steadily. It is even adding a second trip for two services from Bedok and Pasir Ris next Monday.

What next?

TRANSPORT observers are split on whether the new parallel routes will attract some commuters away from the MRT and ease the crush during peak hours.

Assistant Professor Paul Barter, who teaches transport policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, subscribes to the common view that the routes will prove relatively unappealing as buses are much slower than the MRT.

But commuters say that, even if the trains are faster and more reliable, the carriages can be so packed at rush hour that they end up waiting for another train.

The parallel bus routes are chosen precisely to ease this overloading on parts of the MRT system.

As 69 trains are added over four years, trains could well become less crowded and the dynamics of passenger demand will change again.

For now, commuters like administrator Jacquelyn Koh, 42, who lives in Woodlands, are keen to give the parallel buses a try. Her bus-MRT journey to her office in Raffles Place now takes an hour and five minutes, and costs about $1.80.

'A bus service would be excellent if I could get a seat. I'd like to sit down, read my tablet and check my news.I don't mind paying $3 for the bus service.'

Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport member Lim Biow Chuan feels that parallel routes are ultimately a short-term solution.

But, said the Mountbatten MP, 'To do nothing is not a solution. If people can't take the crowdedness on the trains, at least now they have the option of bus services'.

Should there be more parallel services then?

Observers advise caution as the services could be under-utilised, and removing them once they are in place could prompt howls of protest.

Mr Lim said: 'Services cost money. We should take small steps and...increase the number of buses if there's a need.'


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