It is heartening to see that the NEL is going for a major renewal this year. Many Singaporeans depend on the public transport system to travel. But, we should not forget about the buses. The bus contracting model was first introduced in 2014 to be more responsive to changes in ridership patterns and commuter needs. LTA is the owner of all the bus assets and bus operators are to conform to specific performance standards. While many indicators such as on-time adherence and waiting times do count as commuters’ primary concerns, I hope we are also not forgetting about maintenance and upgrading, especially now that commuters are charged extra to account for a new component called the Network Capacity Factor (NCF), which saw bus and train fares for adults rising by six cents per trip from Dec 29. The bus contracting model can be enhanced further to include not just waiting times but also other environmentally linked factors such as noise pollution and carbon emissions.... Continue Reading