MPs rev up lobbying for more buses

They join forces to push for better services in their estates

By Goh Chin Lian, The Straits Times, 4 Jun 2012

WITH the first batch of buses due to be rolled out under a $1.1 billion scheme in a few months' time, lobbying by MPs for better bus services in their wards is intensifying.

And while some have started raising appeals in Parliament or writing to the authorities to ask for more buses to be routed to their growing estates, MPs will now take a more coordinated approach in their lobbying.

Mindful of a deluge of requests from all 87 MPs, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew has asked them to form clusters to consolidate their requests before they meet the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Each cluster is to be made up of a GRC and a single-member constituency (SMC), with representatives chosen from among their MPs. Together, they will cover all 15 GRCs and 12 SMCs.

For instance, Punggol East SMC's Mr Michael Palmer is pooling his requests with those from Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, while newly elected Workers' Party MP Png Eng Huat will represent his Hougang ward and Aljunied GRC.

The flurry of requests come in the wake of the announcement of the Bus Services Enhancement Programme in February.

While the plan had initially drawn some criticism, MPs are now hoping to get a share of the 40 new bus routes that will be added over the next five years. The first batch will be rolled out from the third quarter of this year.

The scheme will also boost existing services at peak hours, with about 130 of the 260 services across Singapore deemed to need improvements. The programme will fund the purchase and running of 550 buses, with another 250 to be added by operators SBS Transit and SMRT.

Public transport has become a hot-button issue, with the Government coming under growing pressure to relieve overcrowding on buses and trains, improve connections and shorten waiting times.

By coordinating their responses, MPs could strengthen their cases: Planners tend to give priority to bus services that serve more than one area and cater to larger groups of commuters.

Bukit Panjang MP Teo Ho Pin, for example, is working with Holland-Bukit Timah GRC to lobby for better frequencies on overcrowded services 75, 190, 171, 187, 700, 961, 960, 966 and 971E.

He said: 'Bukit Panjang is one town and many of our residents from the three divisions - Cashew, Zhenghua and Bukit Panjang - use the same bus services.'

Nee Soon GRC's Mr Patrick Tay said more buses are needed as more housing developments are due to spring up in the GRC in the next few years. Already, he said, feeder services 804, 806 and 811 in his Nee Soon East division are crowded at peak hours.

Some MPs have already made their own pitches. Last month, Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Dr Fatimah Lateef and Ms Lee Bee Wah pressed Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo in Parliament for better bus services in their wards, while Mr Liang Eng Hwa wrote to Ms Teo, the LTA and SMRT.

The LTA said it will continue to improve the bus network and integrate public transport modes even as it tries to address the MPs' requests. But it added: 'Finite resources mean that these competing demands will have to be carefully assessed and prioritised across the whole island, balancing feedback received and bus planning considerations.'