Early arrivals, unexpected waits: Bus timing display glitches leave commuters confused

SINGAPORE: Food stall owner Ms Ng had been waiting for more than 40 minutes at a bus stop outside Kovan MRT station on Friday (Jan 23) for a bus to Serangoon Gardens.

The digital display showed service 136 would arrive in 22 minutes, but the wait had already stretched far longer than that.

"What else can I do? I just have to wait," said the 68-year-old, who was rushing to get to her stall.

Ms Ng was among many commuters who grappled with unreliable bus arrival information on Friday, with some buses turning up 20 minutes earlier than displayed while others arrived much later than expected.

The widespread discrepancies occurred on the first day of a four-day restoration period. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had reset its Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) system on Wednesday to fix technical issues.

LTA switched the system back on at the start of passenger service on Friday to conduct testing and stabilise operations, but said that bus arrival timings would not be fully available or accurate while system performance is progressively restored.

BUSES ARRIVE UP TO 20 MINUTES EARLY

At three bus stops visited by CNA on Friday, most commuters were caught off guard when buses arrived much earlier than indicated on digital displays.

At the Kovan MRT station exit C bus stop around noon, the digital board showed multiple services would arrive only after more than 20 minutes.

But services 80, 107 and 119 all turned up within five to 10 minutes.

Retiree Adam Sim said he was frustrated when the display showed service 80 would take 25 minutes. "I don't take this bus often, but I don't remember the interval being this long."

But the bus arrived less than two minutes later.

The pattern repeated at Serangoon MRT station exit E. At 12.40pm, service 70 was shown arriving in 15 minutes but came in three minutes. Service 53 displayed a 28-minute wait but pulled in after just eight minutes.

Some commuters scrambled to their feet and rushed to board when buses arrived unexpectedly early.

The discrepancies were even starker at Paya Lebar MRT station exit B. At 1.18pm, service 70 arrived three minutes after the board showed an 18-minute wait.

Services 135 and 155 recorded the largest gaps, arriving about 20 minutes ahead of displayed timings.

OTHERS FACE LONGER DELAYS

Other commuters were displeased that they had to wait longer than expected.  

Gavin, who declined to give his full name, said his bus arrived on time at Serangoon but earlier that morning at a Buangkok bus stop, the MyTransport.SG app showed a five-minute wait that stretched to over 15 minutes.

Checks by CNA showed the Citymapper and MyTransport.SG apps mirrored the inaccurate information on display screens, though Google Maps showed slight differences of six to 12 minutes.

Polytechnic student Syed said the inconsistencies do not affect him much, as he only checks arrival times upon reaching the bus stop.

“But I know some people who time when leave their house so they don't have to wait too long. They might get irritated if it's inaccurate and they miss the bus," he said. 

LTA said on Wednesday that preliminary findings indicated an "intermittent transmission" issue with onboard systems for some buses, resulting in missed bus arrival predictions for a small proportion of buses across its bus network.

The issue was first detected on Jan 10, with more inaccuracies being “subsequently detected over the course of the week”, the authority added.