Vice-president
Corporate Communications
SBS Transit
Bus Articles in the Newspapers and Stomp.sg
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Sorry for the confusion
Letter from Tammy Tan
Vice-president
Corporate Communications
SBS TransitWE REFER to “Wheelchair friendly — but sorry, you can’t board” (Oct 2). SBS Transit would like to apologise to all of its wheelchair-bound commuters who have been confused by the use of blue Wheelchair-Accessible Bus (WAB) decals on buses not running on WAB routes. SBS Transit has taken immediate action to remove them to avoid further confusion and will ensure that only WAB-designated Services carry the decals from now on. We were also sorry to learn of the incident where Mr Thomas Teo was denied entry on Service 14, and conducted an immediate investigation. We found that the incident had taken place on April 14 this year — before Service 14 was declared a WAB service. We have since pointed this out to the reporter. SBS Transit would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to rolling out WAB services as quickly as possible. We realise, however, that we have made some mistakes in our roll-out plan and we sincerely apologise for these. We will continue to work closely with the voluntary welfare organisations to improve our service offerings. -
Originally posted by brotherchen1982:
Sorry for the confusion
Letter from Tammy Tan
Vice-president
Corporate Communications
SBS Transit.WE REFER to “Wheelchair friendly — but sorry, you can’t board” (Oct 2). SBS Transit would like to apologise to all of its wheelchair-bound commuters who have been confused by the use of blue Wheelchair-Accessible Bus (WAB) decals on buses not running on WAB routes. SBS Transit has taken immediate action to remove them to avoid further confusion and will ensure that only WAB-designated Services carry the decals from now on..We were also sorry to learn of the incident where Mr Thomas Teo was denied entry on Service 14, and conducted an immediate investigation. We found that the incident had taken place on April 14 this year — before Service 14 was declared a WAB service. We have since pointed this out to the reporter..SBS Transit would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to rolling out WAB services as quickly as possible. We realise, however, that we have made some mistakes in our roll-out plan and we sincerely apologise for these. We will continue to work closely with the voluntary welfare organisations to improve our service offerings.The stupid management and her. Sometimes I think some BC can replace thier position.
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Originally posted by brotherchen1982:
Sorry for the confusion
Letter from Tammy Tan
Vice-president
Corporate Communications
SBS Transit.WE REFER to “Wheelchair friendly — but sorry, you can’t board” (Oct 2). SBS Transit would like to apologise to all of its wheelchair-bound commuters who have been confused by the use of blue Wheelchair-Accessible Bus (WAB) decals on buses not running on WAB routes. SBS Transit has taken immediate action to remove them to avoid further confusion and will ensure that only WAB-designated Services carry the decals from now on..We were also sorry to learn of the incident where Mr Thomas Teo was denied entry on Service 14, and conducted an immediate investigation. We found that the incident had taken place on April 14 this year — before Service 14 was declared a WAB service. We have since pointed this out to the reporter..SBS Transit would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to rolling out WAB services as quickly as possible. We realise, however, that we have made some mistakes in our roll-out plan and we sincerely apologise for these. We will continue to work closely with the voluntary welfare organisations to improve our service offerings.Well... it could have been better if they have prevented the blunder in the first place, but their admission of a blunder and apologising for it is something that is definitely getting a thumbs-up from me. Not many Singaporeans, it seems, can make a mistake and then admit it was a mistake, apologise, and make amends. Their competitors is one fine example, among the countless others.
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Bus stops for the 'backward'
LOL! I remember last time Tampines used to have these bus-stop (eg St 71 one). -
SBS ticket inspector makes man alight in middle of expressway
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=38418
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Originally posted by QX179R:
SBS ticket inspector makes man alight in middle of expressway
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=38418
OT: LOL!! 572S on 168 when it is a trg and did u noticed a lady driving the bus ... -
Originally posted by QX179R:
SBS ticket inspector makes man alight in middle of expressway
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=38418
The bus involved should be SBS 9143M... -
Originally posted by QX179R:
SBS ticket inspector makes man alight in middle of expressway
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=38418
OK...
This has caused my respect for SBS Transit to drop by a significant amount.
It's simply unbelievable. I can see why they are so insistent on the fares, but they still could have been more forgiving and at least wait until the bus reaches the interchange, so everyone can sort things out there properly with other staff members. Kicking a commuter out of the bus while it's in the middle of the expressway? When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
OK...
This has caused my respect for SBS Transit to drop by a significant amount.
It's simply unbelievable. I can see why they are so insistent on the fares, but they still could have been more forgiving and at least wait until the bus reaches the interchange, so everyone can sort things out there properly with other staff members. Kicking a commuter out of the bus while it's in the middle of the expressway? When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?
hey hey smrt aint tat low
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Being a SBST BC before i day say they are very particular about bus fares...Some dun care whether you got cash or not.SMRTB on the other hand is quite flexible.
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Originally posted by carbikebus:
Being a SBST BC before i day say they are very particular about bus fares...Some dun care whether you got cash or not.SMRTB on the other hand is quite flexible.
Ah yes... you reminded me of the time when I took route 882 for free when I told the driver I had not enough cash on me and my ez-link card was emptied of value.
Hmmm... could SMRT actually be better than SBS Transit on this? Or is this why their bus division is losing so much money?
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
OK...
This has caused my respect for SBS Transit to drop by a significant amount.
It's simply unbelievable. I can see why they are so insistent on the fares, but they still could have been more forgiving and at least wait until the bus reaches the interchange, so everyone can sort things out there properly with other staff members. Kicking a commuter out of the bus while it's in the middle of the expressway? When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?
Your last sentence is not needed. -
Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
Ah yes... you reminded me of the time when I took route 882 for free when I told the driver I had not enough cash on me and my ez-link card was emptied of value.
Hmmm... could SMRT actually be better than SBS Transit on this? Or is this why their bus division is losing so much money?
I believe SMRT knows how to be more flexible when it comes to paying cash fares... They understand that as a passenger, no-one can be so free to take so many coins out on a day just to take a bus.I've seen many cases of "bullying" by SBS Transit BCs, students with uniforms are requested to show their EZ-Link card and etc. There was once when I wanted to retain the value in my EZ-Link card to take MRT home and hence I had to pay cash on a S130 bus. The driver asked me to show him my EZ-Link card and that was exactly what I did. However, he still asked me to tap my EZ-Link card on the card reader and when it showed that it still had value, he questioned me on why I still had to pay cash. I felt like telling him off at the right instant, on that spot (and with my school uniform) that bus drivers have no right to tell passengers which mode of payment they wish to use on board the bus. That's my key point. And I could easily just complain to the Customer Relations Centre with every single bit of details I can find from the bus, the BC. Why are passengers always subjected to some moronic BC's kaopeh style?
And I've seen too many cases on board SBS Transit buses to know that they are very niao or stringent in making sure that people pay the correct fare. I understand their stand, but, come on? Who would be so free to wear other people's school uniform out just to pay the lesser amount? A student in school uniform (and still looks like a student) is still required to display his pass?
So eX.A.K.R., I believe there is no need to compare SBS Transit with SMRT. This case of dropping a passenger off on the expressway is an isolated one, you don't see people walking down the expressway everyday, do you? And I see absolutely no reason why you need to mention that "When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?" Simple reason because, there has been no complains yet stemming from the same scenario as what we see in this isolated case. And I don't know where you got that idea that SMRT is always lower than SBS Transit, and let me say here that they are both equal. Both have their pros and cons, their goods and their bads. You don't need to relate everything to SMRT even when it's SBS Transit's matter, do you?
This has caused my respect for such a person like you who has been in the bus community for so long, to drop by a significant amount. Sorry to say so, I just hate people who only know how to pinpoint at SMRT for everything they do, and everything they do not, because that means they don't know how to differentiate the two companies, or rather, everything related to SBS Transit is always seen as a reason stemming from SMRT, for which I don't see.
If you still persist on such one-sided biasness (and even pinpointing the wrong party) which obviously is not needed here, I can only say that I leave you to be. I have other commitments to attend to, and I won't be bothered with your unconstructive replies. You on one hand can be constructive, but on the other hand, you are just always biased.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
OK...
This has caused my respect for SBS Transit to drop by a significant amount.
It's simply unbelievable. I can see why they are so insistent on the fares, but they still could have been more forgiving and at least wait until the bus reaches the interchange, so everyone can sort things out there properly with other staff members. Kicking a commuter out of the bus while it's in the middle of the expressway? When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?
i felt your unneccesary comments are gonna result to flame wars
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Originally posted by Oceane:
If you still persist on such one-sided biasness (and even pinpointing the wrong party) which obviously is not needed here, I can only say that I leave you to be. I have other commitments to attend to, and I won't be bothered with your unconstructive replies. You on one hand can be constructive, but on the other hand, you are just always biased.I have always tried to be impartial to SMRT, but it still cannot erase the fact that I have experienced a LOT of consistent nastiness from them, not to mention the way they are running their bus business in general - neglected routes, neglected towns, the killing of CSS (when at least route 608 still had pretty high loads during peak hours), etc.
When I said "When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?", I did not literally mean it to say that SMRT also throws their commuters off the expressway too; what I was referring to was SMRT's sometimes callous regard for the safety and welfare of their commuters. Let me just mention that I have been thrown off at a police centre by a route 962 bus driver (who used to drive TIB 1125A) just because I accidentally tapped by ez-link card on the entry reader while it's still on entry mode, and the bus driver decided to blow things over - and the police centre was at least a kilometre's walk away from my home. I overpaid for a longer walk home - tell me where's the logic in this. I did manage to claim back the fare afterward - but I sometimes think of that as a lucky break, as I had tried to claim back some fares from them previously, only for them to make sure it was virtually impossible for me to do so by obfuscating the entire procedure and kept directing me all over Woodlands Interchange and MRT station - I eventually gave up. That, plus with all the stories I hear and experiences I have on SMRT buses (a Nissan Diesel speeding down Upper Thomson Road at 80km/h with a full load of passengers, or hard braking to a stop just millimetres shy of a taxi in front, anyone?), does not leave me with a good impression.
As for SBS Transit, let me surprise you with this little fact. There was a time when I hated SBS Transit and preferred SMRT (then known as Trans Island). It was only with the increasing nasty experiences I have with SMRT, coupled with how SBS Transit was at that time truly trying to improve their standard of service by investing in new routes and buses, that made me dart for SBS Transit. However, with this incident, plus with many of the stories I have been hearing from them as of late, is forcing me to start reviewing my respect for their company. I admit, I'm biased in favour of SBS Transit - at least before, but hearing about this incident is really forcing me to look at both SBS Transit and SMRT again. Hence, the SMRT's low remark: SMRT, I felt, was already quite bad on this regard, and I used it as a comparison to what I can see is SBS Transit's dropping standard; if you put the remark the other way, you can see it as that I'm actually insulting SBS Transit.
I hope I have done enough explanations regarding this subject. Let's be brutually honest here: Singapore's public transit system sucks (and that applies to everyone involved in the system, not just SMRT or LTA or such), and there's a lot everyone - companies, authorities, commuters - must do lest our public transit system degrades into a shameful orgy.
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rOriginally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
That, plus with all the stories I hear and experiences I have on SMRT buses (a Nissan Diesel speeding down Upper Thomson Road at 80km/h with a full load of passengers, or hard braking to a stop just millimetres shy of a taxi in front, anyone?), does not leave me with a good impression.
You know...as long as they don't get into accidents and bring us to a place earlier, some passengers don't mind.
I've gotten used to taking their buses and go from Bishan to Yishun in half their scheduled time of 30 minutes :\.
But sometimes it's not really the drivers themselves that speed, and the bus themselves "speeds" for the driver - encountered one case where the driver told me he was afraid of driving the bus cause it's acceleration is too fast and he doesn't have to step on the pedal and it'll go above 60km/h (speed limiter made noise and he tries to brake).
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Originally posted by Oceane:
I've seen many cases of "bullying" by SBS Transit BCs, students with uniforms are requested to show their EZ-Link card and etc. There was once when I wanted to retain the value in my EZ-Link card to take MRT home and hence I had to pay cash on a S130 bus. The driver asked me to show him my EZ-Link card and that was exactly what I did. However, he still asked me to tap my EZ-Link card on the card reader and when it showed that it still had value, he questioned me on why I still had to pay cash. I felt like telling him off at the right instant, on that spot (and with my school uniform) that bus drivers have no right to tell passengers which mode of payment they wish to use on board the bus. That's my key point. And I could easily just complain to the Customer Relations Centre with every single bit of details I can find from the bus, the BC. Why are passengers always subjected to some moronic BC's kaopeh style?And I've seen too many cases on board SBS Transit buses to know that they are very niao or stringent in making sure that people pay the correct fare. I understand their stand, but, come on? Who would be so free to wear other people's school uniform out just to pay the lesser amount? A student in school uniform (and still looks like a student) is still required to display his pass?
Encountered before too - was made to pay adult fare because I was not in uniform, and aw someone who he wanted to pay cash instead of tap his ezlink (like your case). But I would say that they're probably the minority whom are new to the company, so much so that they don't dare to bend the rules yet, or maybe they're just following the rules. It's a little bit like, bringing food/drinks up on the bus - although explicitly stated disallowed on trains/buses - some of the staff (not to an extent on trains, but more on buses) would close one eye, trusting that you will have the moral values to be more careful and not litter/spill the drink on the bus/train :), however, stompers are another case (let's not get on that...I now look out for people who start fliming/taking pictures on the bus and wouldn't hesitate to ask him why is he doing so if I think it's specially targetted at me...bloody hell).
Most of the drivers are quite nice, probably because they have their tinge of humanity - I've ever gotten a free ride because I didn't have any coins and my EZLink didn't have cash, and I too, got a free ride because of a stupid mistake I made on the bus while tapping my EZLink (this was when they just updated the software to show "green" when a concession pass has no money...I didn't know and just walked in, thinking they had made a new sound for concession holders - driver didn't care less either).
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Originally posted by SBS9888Y:
i felt your unneccesary comments are gonna result to flame wars
No one - myself included - likes to have a flame war around here. What I did was just to speak my mind out; if they do not buy my explanation above and insist on starting an argument around here, then I can't do anything about it either.
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Originally posted by n4l:
You know...as long as they don't get into accidents and bring us to a place earlier, some passengers don't mind.
I've gotten used to taking their buses and go from Bishan to Yishun in half their scheduled time of 30 minutes :\.
But sometimes it's not really the drivers themselves that speed, and the bus themselves "speeds" for the driver - encountered one case where the driver told me he was afraid of driving the bus cause it's acceleration is too fast and he doesn't have to step on the pedal and it'll go above 60km/h (speed limiter made noise and he tries to brake).
I understand what you are saying - and I have also heard of another reason why some bus drivers speed. Apparently, some routes (169 and 856 in particular, I heard) have very tight schedules, which menas the bus driver has to rush whenever possible to meet the timetable; this sort of things really have to be blamed on the people who draw up the timetables without understanding the situation on the ground.
I really don't mind buses going a bit too fast, especially on expressways; what worries me is when they do it on narrow roads, or they seem to be losing control of the bus at times. On my aforementioned Nissan Diesel ride, there were times when the steering of the bus felt really "sudden" and "jerky" - not sure how to explain it - and it really felt like the driver needed to make one tiny error for bad things to happen.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
I have always tried to be impartial to SMRT, but it still cannot erase the fact that I have experienced a LOT of consistent nastiness from them, not to mention the way they are running their bus business in general - neglected routes, neglected towns, the killing of CSS (when at least route 608 still had pretty high loads during peak hours), etc.
When I said "When did SBS Transit resort to SMRT's low?", I did not literally mean it to say that SMRT also throws their commuters off the expressway too; what I was referring to was SMRT's sometimes callous regard for the safety and welfare of their commuters. Let me just mention that I have been thrown off at a police centre by a route 962 bus driver (who used to drive TIB 1125A) just because I accidentally tapped by ez-link card on the entry reader while it's still on entry mode, and the bus driver decided to blow things over - and the police centre was at least a kilometre's walk away from my home. I overpaid for a longer walk home - tell me where's the logic in this. I did manage to claim back the fare afterward - but I sometimes think of that as a lucky break, as I had tried to claim back some fares from them previously, only for them to make sure it was virtually impossible for me to do so by obfuscating the entire procedure and kept directing me all over Woodlands Interchange and MRT station - I eventually gave up. That, plus with all the stories I hear and experiences I have on SMRT buses (a Nissan Diesel speeding down Upper Thomson Road at 80km/h with a full load of passengers, or hard braking to a stop just millimetres shy of a taxi in front, anyone?), does not leave me with a good impression.
As for SBS Transit, let me surprise you with this little fact. There was a time when I hated SBS Transit and preferred SMRT (then known as Trans Island). It was only with the increasing nasty experiences I have with SMRT, coupled with how SBS Transit was at that time truly trying to improve their standard of service by investing in new routes and buses, that made me dart for SBS Transit. However, with this incident, plus with many of the stories I have been hearing from them as of late, is forcing me to start reviewing my respect for their company. I admit, I'm biased in favour of SBS Transit - at least before, but hearing about this incident is really forcing me to look at both SBS Transit and SMRT again. Hence, the SMRT's low remark: SMRT, I felt, was already quite bad on this regard, and I used it as a comparison to what I can see is SBS Transit's dropping standard; if you put the remark the other way, you can see it as that I'm actually insulting SBS Transit.
I hope I have done enough explanations regarding this subject. Let's be brutually honest here: Singapore's public transit system sucks (and that applies to everyone involved in the system, not just SMRT or LTA or such), and there's a lot everyone - companies, authorities, commuters - must do lest our public transit system degrades into a shameful orgy.
I know you are being honest. Let's face it. Many of us have had good and bad encounters on both companies. No company is perfect, but no company is also as worse as what we can think of it to be.I don't mind if you are being biased - it's human nature to be, but a reminder that you need to select your words carefully. Or not it makes your whole viewpoint ugly. And finally, it's one thing to be biased and just voice out viewpoints of your own, and its another thing to be biased and try to make people have the same biased views as you. Not directing this to you - I'm confident you are of no such character.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
I understand what you are saying - and I have also heard of another reason why some bus drivers speed. Apparently, some routes (169 and 856 in particular, I heard) have very tight schedules, which menas the bus driver has to rush whenever possible to meet the timetable; this sort of things really have to be blamed on the people who draw up the timetables without understanding the situation on the ground.
I really don't mind buses going a bit too fast, especially on expressways; what worries me is when they do it on narrow roads, or they seem to be losing control of the bus at times. On my aforementioned Nissan Diesel ride, there were times when the steering of the bus felt really "sudden" and "jerky" - not sure how to explain it - and it really felt like the driver needed to make one tiny error for bad things to happen.
73 another tight one (especially during off-peak hours). Mercedes speeding down Lorong Chuan and Serangoon Garden Way. -
Originally posted by QX179R:
SBS ticket inspector makes man alight in middle of expressway
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=38418
Lolx... the victim should make a big fuss inside the bus, and make the BC to park the bus to 1 side and continue to !@#$%^&*() with the SBST ticket inspector until the police or any higher authority personnels came, and after that make the inspector feel very shameful about his act...
Sometimes we the fellow Singaporeans are just too kind-hearted and let people like this inspector to bully - even to the extent of safety risk... -
Originally posted by TIB1062Y:
Lolx... the victim should make a big fuss inside the bus, and make the BC to park the bus to 1 side and continue to !@#$%^&*() with the SBST ticket inspector until the police or any higher authority personnels came, and after that make the inspector feel very shameful about his act...
Sometimes we the fellow Singaporeans are just too kind-hearted and let people like this inspector to bully - even to the extent of safety risk...
They should be sacked for their rash and inconsiderate actions. -
Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
I understand what you are saying - and I have also heard of another reason why some bus drivers speed. Apparently, some routes (169 and 856 in particular, I heard) have very tight schedules, which menas the bus driver has to rush whenever possible to meet the timetable; this sort of things really have to be blamed on the people who draw up the timetables without understanding the situation on the ground.
I really don't mind buses going a bit too fast, especially on expressways; what worries me is when they do it on narrow roads, or they seem to be losing control of the bus at times. On my aforementioned Nissan Diesel ride, there were times when the steering of the bus felt really "sudden" and "jerky" - not sure how to explain it - and it really felt like the driver needed to make one tiny error for bad things to happen.
852 has relatively tight schedules too - save for the 10:30pm trip. All Nissans are about the same when they speed - or actually all buses.
But the people who draw timetables need to wake up. They do it in theory, but I honestly doubt they see it in practice.
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Originally posted by Oceane:
They should be sacked for their rash and inconsiderate actions.Yup. This is ridiculous....