Linear bus stops - LTA's reply

I have recently written on my dissatisfaction with the way LTA chose to write one of their news release. You may read about my previous post here.

My discontentment arises from their attempt to glorify an afterthought (a-step-back) solution for the sake of publicity stunt, without clear explanation on the rationale to embark on those projects. As expected, news editors’ desks rain cats and dogs with letters of comments from public, and LTA responsed with a letter which was published in TODAY (attached below).

The response confirmed my initial suspicions that Jalan Eunos will be widened due to increased traffic volume, and bus bays are removed due to lack of road space. Both facts were missing from news release.

Ironically, LTA’s response states that it is important that the issue of linear bus stop be put in perspective, which the same could be said of their news release.

Pilot project in Jalan Eunos will allow LTA to study the impact of linear bus stops

Letter from NALEEZA EBRAHIM
Deputy Director, Media Relations
Land Transport Authority

I refer to the recent letters on bus bays versus linear bus stops. It is important to put this issue in perspective.

Most major cities such as Tokyo, London and Hong Kong, do not have bus bays (also called bus lay-bys) along main roads because they take up considerable space.

Similarly, in Singapore, only one third of the bus stops have bus bays as providing them requires additional land that is not always available. Bus bays are usually put in when there is enough road reserve.

With increasing vehicle usage, the trade off between widening roads and retaining bus bays will have to be studied in land-scarce Singapore. The pilot project in Jalan Eunos seeks to do this.

LTA is widening the road at Jalan Eunos because traffic growth there has led to increased congestion. In doing so, the existing bus bays will have to be removed. This presents LTA with the opportunity to conduct a one-year trial to study the impact of linear bus stops — and weigh the improvement in bus travel speed against the impact on other traffic.

In this case, by adding a lane to each side of the road, all road users will be better off. Putting in linear bus stops will improve the journey times for buses along this stretch of road and will ensure that buses share in the gains from this project.

Many who have given feedback have suggested keeping bus bays and making it mandatory for motorists to give way to buses exiting bus bays.

We agree that this is a possible solution for situations where bus bays are still feasible. So far, LTA has been working with the public transport operators over the last three years to encourage motorists to do this without mandating it as a rule.

We have placed "Give-way-to-buses-exiting" traffic signs at some bus stops with bus bays, and collaborated with the Traffic Police to include the message "Give way to buses exiting" in the Road Courtesy Campaign.

LTA is reviewing the progress of this programme to determine if more needs to be done, taking into account public feedback.

Source: TODAYonline (February 26, 2007)

Give good display to train information

I submitted this article to Today and it appeared on 23 February 2007.

Linear bus stops

Buses trying to exit bus bays are often unable to do so because motorists are unwilling to give way to them, thereby causing unnecessary delays and adding journey time for most passengers. To address the problem, LTA came up with an innovative solution: remove the bus bays altogether.

As announced in their press release dated 12 February 2007, they are embarking on a trial to convert existing bus bays along Jalan Eunos to bay-less bus stops, also known as "linear bus stops", to investigate if such bay-less bus stops are effective in reducing delays at bus stops.

Before you read further, it's best to read the full press release available below (or click here).

LTA to embark on trial to introduce Linear Bus Stops

To build on existing efforts to improve travelling speeds for buses, LTA is planning to use Jalan Eunos as a platform to test the benefits of linear bus stops.

Linear bus stops are defined as bus stops that are constructed along, and adjacent to, the road, without the inlet known as the bus bay.

Studies by LTA indicate that buses trying to exit from the bus bays are often impeded by fast moving traffic and motorists who do not take the trouble to slow down for them.

This is backed up by a survey conducted by SBST which found that 9 per cent of bus commuters' journey time is incurred when buses are trying to exit bus bays.

Thus, as part of the Jalan Eunos road widening project, slated to begin in the third quarter of 2007, bus bays will not be built along the widened roads. Instead, six pairs of linear bus stops will be built, to replace the existing ones. The widening works will be completed in 2009.

By timing the trial together with the proposed road widening project, we foresee that it is not likely to impact other motorists adversely, as there will be an additional lane created on both sides of Jalan Eunos.

Jalan Eunos was selected for the trial as it has high bus volumes as well as heavy traffic flow along this stretch of road.

Date: 12 February 2007

My take on this linear bus stop saga? It's a mere publicity stunt. Instead of focusing on lane widening, their PR team choose to focus on linear bus stops trial. Although they are essentially the same, the change in reporting focus creates a false impression that LTA is planning Singapore's road with the public transport as utmost priority.

If you read between the lines, you'll realised that the press release should really read like this:

LTA to widen Jalan Eunos (mock)

Jalan Eunos will be widened by an additional lane in each direction to cater to the increased traffic volume along Jalan Eunos.

The project, slated to begin in the third quarter of 2007, will help to alleviate traffic congestion along Jalan Eunos. The widening works will be completed in 2009.

As part of Jalan Eunos road widening project, bus bays will not be built along the widened roads. Instead, six pairs of linear bus stops will be built to replace the existing ones. This is a part of a trial to build on existing efforts to improve travelling speeds for buses by using Jalan Eunos as a platform to test the benefits of linear bus stops. Linear bus stops are defined as bus stops that are constructed along, and adjacent to, the road, without the inlet known as the bus bay.

By timing the trial together with the proposed road widening project, we foresee that it is not likely to impact other motorists adversely, as there will be an additional lane created on both sides of Jalan Eunos.

And the undercurrent to this saga? The bus bays are probably removed because there are probably no more road space to accommodate them due to the lane widening. To address this seemingly a-step-back decision, they came up with an elaborate publicity stunt of "linear bus stop trial", which will not materialise 2 years down the road (provided no construction delay), and the results of the trial most probably a year later. By then 3 years would have past, and hopefully we will still remember this "linear bus stop" thingy.

Shifting goal posts

If transport industry is a game of soccer, there are sure signs that the goal posts are shifting*.

Goalpost #1:

Previous goal post (1996): LTA White Paper
We only started MRT operations in 1987. We cannot grow a comprehensive network over the next few years. However we will build up the network incrementally, properly sized to match our city of the future. Over a decade or two, the results will be significant and clearly visible. Our target is to have as high as percentage of trips on a quality public transport system as in Zurich, where 75% of trips into the city centre are by public transport.

Current goal post (2006): Speech by Raymond Lim, 23 Oct
The aim is to increase the proportion of trips taken on public transport during the morning peak period from 63% today to at least 70% over the next 10 to 15 years.

Goalpost #2:

Previous goal post (2001): Speech by Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, 23 Oct
Provided the financial position of the Government remains strong, the plan is to increase the network from 90 km today to over 150 km in 2006, and to about 240 km by 2012. In the long-term rail masterplan, the network will reach over 500 km, which is more than five times today's coverage.

Current goal post (2007): Speech by Mr Mah Bow Tan, 9 Feb
LTA will be evaluating other new lines as well as extensions to current lines in different parts of Singapore which are currently under-served by the RTS network as part of the overall master plan. In the long term, we may need to at least double our rail network. (Author's note: current RTS network stands at 138km. Doubling rail network will reach about 280km.)

Goalpost #3:

Previous goal post (1994): Basic Bus Service Standards (Public Transport Council, PTC)
a) At least 100% of bus services to operate at headway of not more than 10 minutes during weekday peak periods (excluding pubic holidays), unless otherwise stipulated by the PTC.

b) At least 100% of residential bus services to operate at headway of not more than 15 minutes during off-peak periods, unless otherwise stipulated by the PTC.

Current goal post (2006): Quality of Service Standards (PTC)
a) At least 80% of bus services to operate at headway of not more than 15 minutes during weekday peak periods (excluding pubic holidays), unless otherwise stipulated by the PTC.

b) At least 85% of bus services to operate at headway of not more than 20 minutes during off-peak periods, unless otherwise stipulated by the PTC.

Let me clarify that I am not against shifting goal posts per se (a.k.a refining the targets) because I totally appreciate that targets need to be adjusted or refined due to change in commuters' expectations and other factors that could render them unattainable or unrealistic. However, my observation is that the goal posts were shifted without providing any rationale. And the best part of this saga? The new targets, which are of a lower standards, are hailed as the next great milestones to achieve.

* Shifting goal posts (v): changing positions or targets. Used by Prof S Jayakumar (Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore) in Jan 2003 to explain to Parliament on how Malaysia repeatedly changed its positions in negotiation of water supply to Singapore. For more details on the shifting goal posts saga, click here (quote in point 11 of main text).

Move to the rear bus campaign

SBS Transit launched another education campaign to encourage desirable behaviour among commuters when taking public transport.

The first campaign is "Give Way to Bus Campaign", where drivers are encouraged to give way to buses exiting bus bays. The logo on the right are found near bus stops with bus bays to alert vehicle drivers to give priority to buses.

The second is "Flag the Bus Early Campaign" where passengers are "encouraged to be on the constant lookout for the bus instead of listening to their mp3 players, reading the newspapers or SMS-ing their friends" so that they are able to flag the bus early enough for the bus to stop.

The third and newest campaign is "Move to the Rear Bus Campaign" where passengers are encouraged to "move to the rear of the bus for the sake of getting more people on the bus".

My take on the three campaigns is that they seek to highlight that there are uncontrollable factors beyond bus operators' control which could affect a bus journey. As such, the campaigns seek road users cooperation to fulfill their part of the responsibility so that problems can be reduced or eliminated. (Problems such as buses unable to exit bus bays, passengers complaints about buses not stopping at bus stops, or passengers unable to board the bus even though there are still sufficient capacity). I personally feel that the the impact on commuters would be greater if the effort focus on factors that are within operators' control, such as better scheduling system, less circuitous bus routes etc.

My take on the next campaign? "Press the bell early" campaign.

SBS TRANSIT LAUNCHES MOVE TO THE REAR BUS CAMPAIGN

12 February 2007

A common complaint among bus commuters is overcrowding especially during peak hours. In fact, SBS Transit received an average of 2.3 complaints every day from commuters who failed to get on board the bus.

But it is not always a case of insufficient capacity. Investigations based on records generated by the bus system on board as well as some public feedback have shown that commuters are sometimes responsible for this situation too they dont move to the rear, preferring instead to cram themselves at the front of the bus.

Very often, it is noticed that the front part of the bus is crowded with commuters when there is still space at the rear. This has caused difficulties for commuters at the bus stop to board the bus and sometimes this can result in them being late for their appointments, as they have to wait for the next bus. This prolongs the time spent by the bus at the bus stops which extends the traveling time of the journey for all passengers on board.

In a move to address this situation, SBS Transit today launched a Move To The Rear bus campaign. Land Transport Authority Chief Executive BG (NS) Yam Ah Mee, said at the launch: Todays event is very timely since as you know, Singapore is working to make public transport a choice mode. Today is an ideal time not only to encourage our fellow commuters to move to the rear of the bus for the sake of getting more people on the bus. Today is an ideal time to encourage our fellow commuters to consider all of things happening to make public transport a desirable choice for everyone.

Sometimes our interactions with passengers have a bigger effect on how we feel about a trip, than the trip itself. Perhaps an effort like this will help us to remind ourselves of what we need to do, BG (NS) Yam added.

During the campaign, buses will play a public announcement message encouraging commuters to move to the rear to avoid unnecessary delays. Mr Joe Augustine, a well-known radio personality is the voice behind the English message while Ms Ling Zhi, a popular radio DJ is the Mandarin voice talent. Three services, namely Services 15, 27 and 36, have been selected to roll out this campaign first. Services 15 and 36, which have a combined fleet of 28 buses, have already been fitted with a PA system while Service 27, with 28 buses, will be fitted in March.

I suppose most people dont realise that by not moving to the rear, they can delay a bus trip or deprive other fellow passengers from getting on board. Thats certainly not considerate. We hope that with this campaign, they will come to realize that by moving to the rear, they too will benefit by making way for others to board. If feedback from the three services are favourable, we will introduce this PA system across our entire fleet of 2,800 buses, said Mr Ong Boon Leong, Executive Director, SBS Transit.

Routes

Service 15
From Pasir Ris Bus Interchange to Marine Parade Rd, via Tampines, Bedok Reservoir Road, Kaki Bukit, Jalan Eunos, Still Road, Joo Chiat Place, Telok Kurau Road and Marine Parade Road (loop).

Service 27
From Hougang Central Bus Interchange to Changi Airport Terminal, via Sengkang Central and Tampines Avenue 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10.

Service 36
From Changi Airport Terminal to Tomlinson Road, via ECP, Marine Parade Road, Amber Road, Mountbatten Road, Temasek Blvd, Raffles Ave, Stamford Road, Orchard Road, Penang Road, Somerset Road, Grange Road, and Tomlinson Road (loop).

Planning for Growth, Investing in Our Future

Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development, delivered a speech last Saturday on how to meet the challenge of meeting the land use needs for greater economic activities and a larger population. One key area that he covered, which is of particular interest to me, is how to meet the transport needs of a growing population.

I find it rare that Ministry of National Development articulated clear views on how the transport needs should be fulfilled, which by right should be coming from Ministry of Transport. But that aside, there's really nothing ground breaking in Mr Mah's speech: most of what he said were already publicly announced before.

Except for one thing: he sheds more light on Downtown Line. Prior to his speech, what was publicly announced was it will be a 40-km line combining the Downtown Extension, Bukit Timah Line and Eastern Region Line. What's new is that it will consist of 33 stations. In addition, Bukit Timah Line will also cover Choa Chu Kang (previous announcements cover Millenia Walk to Bukit Panjang), and Eastern Region Line will extend all the way to Bedok Reservoir and Tampines (previous announcement covers Jalan Besar and Macpherson only).

For full speech, please click here.

Planning for Growth, Investing in Our Future (extract)

[...]

Our Mid-Term Concept Plan Review has concluded that we have sufficient land to cater to our land needs in the future, if we use this precious resource judiciously and wisely. There would be a need for greater optimization of land-use, and trade-offs between uses will intensify. The challenge is to come up with creative solutions to accommodate land demand, while maintaining a good quality living environment. With global competition among cities, our goal is not just to provide space, but also to enhance our living environment to the extent that it becomes our competitive advantage in the attraction of talent and investment. As cities become more similar in a globalised world, Singapore can stand out as a liveable and attractive city that offers not only economic opportunities, but also social stability, and a healthy and sustainable physical environment.

Measures Required Now

This is a major challenge. But it can be done. There are many issues to consider and measures put in place now, in order to achieve this vision.

[...]

Transportation

Another important area is transportation. Singapore can be proud of our public transport system, which is reliable, convenient and affordable.

As our population grows and more visitors make their way to Singapore, greater transportation needs will have to be met. We will need to add to and extensively improve the existing road network. Existing expressways will be upgraded, and many new expressways will be added. However, as Singapore becomes more built up, land for further road widening and new roads will be limited. Some may have to pass through built-up areas, and many new roads will have to be underground or on viaduct, to optimise the use of space. These roads will be more expensive to build. But even then, there is a limit to how many new roads we can build. The trade-off will be less land for other uses, such as housing and industry. Nature areas and parks may have to go. More vehicular traffic could also compromise our living environment by generating more noise and air pollution.

We need to think of bold solutions to meet the greater transport needs without undermining the quality of our environment. One way is to improve our public transport system even more, so that we are less reliant on private transportation. A comprehensive review is being carried out by the Ministry of Transport (MOT)/Land Transport Authority (LTA) to look into the way we travel. The aim is to increase the proportion of trips taken on public transport during the morning peak period from 63% today to at least 70% over the next 10 to 15 years. This approach of heavy reliance on public transportation is not unusual. In dense cities such as New York and London, most people leave their cars at home and travel by the subway and public buses, as it is the most convenient way of moving around the city.

To achieve this, we have to invest in our public transport infrastructure and improve the service levels to provide a high quality and affordable public transport system for commuters. For a start, the Rapid Transit System (RTS) network will have to be expanded, with more rail lines added to new areas, thereby enhancing accessibility and reducing travel times. The integration between rail and bus services will also be improved for more seamless connectivity.

For instance, the Circle Line will add another 33.3 km to our rail network when it opens from 2010 onwards. It will link all existing Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines running into the city, greatly enhancing connectivity between suburban areas and reducing journey time for commuters considerably. Commuters travelling from Serangoon to Paya Lebar, for example, will take less than 15 minutes on the Circle Line, compared to about half an hour by bus or MRT today. The Boon Lay Extension to the East-West MRT line, when completed in 2009, will serve the needs of the people working in the Jurong Industrial Estate. LTA is currently carrying out feasibility studies for a new 33-station Downtown Line. The 40 km underground line will link up the developments in Marina Bay to estates in the Choa Chu Kang/Bukit Panjang/Bukit Timah corridor and the MacPherson/Bedok Reservoir/Tampines corridor. Beyond that, LTA will be evaluating other new lines as well as extensions to current lines in different parts of Singapore which are currently under-served by the RTS network as part of the overall master plan. In the long term, we may need to at least double our rail network.

In the area of private transport, we will continue to review and refine the various ownership and usage restraint measures to manage the growth in car usage as well as to encourage green vehicles and environmentally friendly modes of transport.

Transport Planning vs Land Use Planning

Ever wonder why you travel around? That's because the things you want are not located in the same place you are at! Put it simply, since it's impossible to house everything you need under one roof, so the things you want (be it shopping centres/cinemas/schools etc) are spread across different areas, and naturally you need to travel to places to satisfy whatever needs that might be.

In transport planning term, this is known as "travel is a derived demand": you move from point A to point B because you need to, not you choose to. We don't travel for the sake of travelling. Of course I know of a handful of bus enthusiasts who took bus rides for the sake of sitting on their favourite B9TL (SBS Transit's newest bus model) or their favourite bus services; or, train enthusiasts who camped at MRT stations to catch the latest refurbished trains or monitor the train run number. There's nothing wrong with that. It still fulfills the statement of "travel is a derived demand" because taking a bus or riding a train satisfy their needs.

This may seems to be a simple fact, but it has huge implications on land use planning. As travel is a derived demand, the further apart the two needs are, the longer the journey is to get from here to there. And the longer the journey is, the more it tolls on the transport system. So, ideally the journey to from point A to point B should be as short as possible so that the reduced total time spent on the system could translate into lesser congestion. Of course the most ideal is to eliminate the need to travel at all. For example, some cities advocate teleconferencing to allow workers to work from home. This will reduce the morning jam into work places. In other cities, cities are built as compact as possible so that distance travelled is reduced. Singapore is one such example.

The intertwined relation between land use planning and transport planning is an old concept. I will not repeat what has already been explored here due to my limited knowledge. But rather the text above serves as a introduction to the concept of how land use planning and transport planning needs to go hand-in-hand. I'll beef up this post with more examples if I can crystallise some of my thoughts on this.

Land Transport Authority White Paper

Transport is a basic necessity for all, so I'm sure everyone has experienced the land transport system in one way or another. Be it taking a public bus, riding a MRT, flagging down (or booking) a taxi, or driving down the expressways, we all have our fair share of comments on what works and doesn't work.

The way things are today is actually shaped by many different players and policies. If you are new to this topic of land transport, a good way to start is by reading up a white paper published by the regulator for land transport. You can download a copy of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) White Paper here.

The White Paper on Singapore's land transport system was published back in 1996. It is now 10 years old, and some may not be as applicable due to changing public expectations and new constraints faced. I will cover more of this later.

Meanwhile, enjoy reading the paper!