Originally posted by buses_cool:
I had two unpleasant encounters with SBS Transit over the past few months I would like to highlight. I noticed that lately SBS Transit Bus Captains tend to drive very slowly e.g. around 30KPH to 35KPH when the road is all clear. It can really be very irritating and frustrating for those who are in a hurry to work or appointments. I understand that Bus Captains will be penalized if they arrive too early. But by driving slowly they are indirectly penalizing us commuters who turn to public transport as it is cheap. Bus Captains also tend to purposely slow down at traffic Junctions when the traffic light is green in hope of it changing to red so that they can delay time. Also the frequencies of SBS Transit buses are extremely long and on some services very short. I wonder why there is this imbalance not counting short loop services like service 200.
On the other had I am very surprised with the standard of service SMRT provides. The Bus Captains drives at reasonable speeds such as 50-55KPH which also does not put passengers at risk of accidents. In fact driving slowly does not mean that it is safe as the bus might be hogging the road and cause vehicles behind the bus to overtake and in the case when the driver is unable to see what is coming in the other direction on a two way road, accidents might occur. The frequency of SMRT buses are very reasonable at 5-7minutes during peak hours and 10-12 minutes during off peak hours from what I have observed. Compared to 10-12 minutes during off-peak hours for SBS Transit buses and 14-18 minutes for SBS Transit buses.
*The figures and timing above are estimated and may vary from service to service.
Let Me see.. SBST got Bad Freq ??? How do you explain the average 5Mins Freq i got from Normal buese serving the City?? and the freq of about 3Mins for Services like 179 72 238 ? SMRTB Good Freq ? Explain the 15Mins Freq get from 966 173 970 ?? And the 20-25Mins Freq of 985 ?? Explain that... For your info (if you dont know what is going here in Singapore..) SBST Does provide better frequency. Freq for SBST is uaually at around 8 - 12mins while SMRT is at 12Mins and above. Talking about speed of buses.. Do you wish to ride a bus which speeds with the SL driving recklessly ? or do you wanna a safe ride to your destination.. ?
You mention that people might be late for work.. If you yourself know that you are late, take a cab. nobody told you to take a bus.. The First bus of Most service is 0530Hrs.. No reason for you to blame on the bus that you are taking. You can choose to take an earlier bus..