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SINGAPORE: Public transport users were more satisfied with bus and train services in 2009 than the year before.
That's according to the latest Public Transport Satisfaction Survey 2009, which polled almost 3,000 regular public transport users.
Overall, about 93.8 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the public transport system, up from 89.5 percent in 2008.
Of the eight service attributes, the respondents were most concerned about safety and security, travel and waiting time.
Compared to 2008, these three service attributes received higher ratings and higher percentages of satisfied consumers.
In general, the commuters were more satisfied with train than bus services.
96 percent of the commuters said they were satisfied with the train services last year -- up from the 94 percent the year before.
For buses, 93 percent of the commuters expressed satisfaction last year -- up from 87 percent in 2008.
However, overall waiting time continues to be a bugbear for commuters as it continued to receive the lowest rating.
About 68 percent of the people polled said they are satisfied with the public transport waiting time -- up slightly from the 64 percent in 2008.
To further improve the waiting time of bus services, the Land Transport Authority will extend the Mandatory Give-Way to Buses scheme from the current 44 to another 158 bus bays island-wide by the end of this year.
LTA will also work with the transport operators to see what more can be done to further increase frequencies in heavily-used bus services.
And by July, the transfer penalty - which is what a commuter pays when transferring between bus to bus or bus to train for example - will be removed altogether. The transfer penalty has been steadily reduced in recent years.
There will also be more train services, with SMRT announcing on Thursday that it will add another 150 trips during peak hours from next month.
Authorities also want to get more motorists on the Park and Ride scheme. There are currently 37 designated car-parks for the scheme, with a total of 4,700 lots.
The Park and Ride system is pretty straightforward. You park your car at one of the designated lots, and take the bus or train to work. If you work in town, this arrangement can be a lot less frustrating and is cheaper than driving.
But the take-up rate has been patchy. For example, the carpark near Queenstown MRT station is often full, while other places are a lot less popular.
So authorities are adding three more carparks to popular sites, and allowing the online purchase of monthly parking tickets.
- 938LIVE/CNA/ir
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