Marine Parade seniors lament end of 'short-lived' shuttle; MP says effort wasn’t wasted

SINGAPORE: Two to three times a week, Mountbatten resident Madam Mak, 80, would take a free shuttle bus service to buy groceries at the market, have lunch nearby, and most importantly, to get to a polyclinic for health checkups.

But earlier this week, when the Marine Parade grassroots organisations that ran the free shuttle bus service announced that the service is set to end on Nov 20, Mdm Mak was dismayed by the news.

“I would have liked the service to last longer, it felt like it was only here for a short while,” said Mdm Mak, who has mobility issues and sometimes uses a wheelchair. She declined to give her full name. 

“It’s not convenient for us old folks to move around.”

She said that to get to Geylang Polyclinic from her HDB Block at Cassia Crescent, she would have to walk or be pushed on a wheelchair by her daughter 450m to the nearest bus stop, and change buses once.

This can take up to one hour. But when the free shuttle service was first announced in July 2024, Mdm Mak was overjoyed that the service cut short her commuting time to the polyclinic to just 15 minutes.

Speaking to CNA while accompanying Mdm Mak, daughter Shirley Hong said her mother was flummoxed by the decision to withdraw the free service, which stopped by SingPost Centre and Dakota MRT station as well. 

“The shuttle bus was very convenient for the old folk, I’m not sure why they had to cease the service,” said Ms Hong, 50.

The impending stoppage of the free shuttle service, which was announced on Monday (Oct 13), had stirred online debate with many commentators opining that the free service itself was introduced for political reasons before the recent General Election.

The service started in July 2024 on an initial one-year pilot for residents of the then-Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC), as well as MacPherson and Mountbatten Single Member Constituencies.

Prior to the General Election, the MacPherson ward was absorbed into the new Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

Political factors were far from the minds of the 15 residents of the ward who CNA spoke to since the cessation announcement. 

Instead, their main concerns were the impact the cancellation has on their daily commutes, with many hoping the service could continue operating.

There were also other residents who believed that the free service had to end eventually because it did not appear to be sustainable, rather than due to political factors. Some observed that the shuttle had starkly different ridership levels across its seven routes, which they thought was the chief reason for its cessation.

Then-Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan said the pilot cost about S$1 million (US$770,000) to operate, with S$200,000 coming from a seed grant from the South East Community Development Council, and the rest from donations.

In a Facebook post, the grassroots organisation that initiated the project said they have decided not to renew the contract after considering feedback and other factors in their most recent review. Resources would be redirected “in a more targeted manner”.

Responding to queries, Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC MP Tin Pei Ling said that the “more targeted programmes” are related to transport.

She added that volunteers have been engaging residents in the days since the announcement, and will assist those who are affected by the service withdrawal. 

She said she is “heartened” to hear that residents have been using the service and found it useful.

“That’s why you have these sentiments. To us, it shows that it’s not a wasted effort,” she said.

“But at the same time, we have been regularly monitoring this, actively observing ridership, and soliciting feedback from those who used it, as well as others who have not used it.”

ELDERLY COMMUTERS SAD TO SEE FREE SHUTTLE GO

At the start of the Mountbatten shuttle bus loop at Cassia Crescent, some elderly passengers were already waiting at 9.40am for the first bus at 10am.

When the bus arrived at 10am, CNA observed a queue of over 20 people trying to board. In the end, two commuters were not able to board the bus as it was at capacity and had to wait for the next bus.

Seven commuters in the queue spoke up about their thoughts on the loss of the popular routes served by the shuttles, expressing their concerns for those who are older and have mobility difficulties. 

“Sometimes at 10am, the bus is full, more people can’t even board,” said Mdm Liu Meising, 70, who is in the childcare industry. 

“This estate has so many elderly, many aren’t very mobile, and many need to go to the polyclinic for long-term health issues,” she said in Mandarin.  

She added that just like Mdm Mak, she also has to take a longer journey and change buses to get to the polyclinic.

Mr Timothy Chiu, 62, said in Mandarin that he will be less trusting of similar initiatives in future that benefit his community, given how short-lived he felt this one was.

“This project did not have a continuation, so if there are similar projects in the future, there will be doubts that it will be sustained,” said Mr Chiu, who works in the healthcare industry.

Over at MacPherson, there were similar gripes from some commuters. One resident at MacPherson Community Centre said that he hopes the bus service can continue somehow, even it operates infrequently.

“Best is to not totally cancel, but maybe have it on some days of the week, like Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday,” said retiree Foo Kong Yin, 72.

Security guard Yee Hock Seng, 61, said that he takes the bus about three times a week either to the polyclinic or to have lunch beside it. To get to that area takes about five to ten minutes by the shuttle bus, but if he has to walk, it takes him 20 minutes.

“Money is one thing, but convenience to the elderly is more important,” he said in Mandarin. “If you’ve set this service already, you can’t remove it.”

RIDERSHIP ISSUES

On the other hand, several residents thought it made sense to stop the service if ridership remained poor, a trend that was reported by CNA last year.  

MacPherson resident Jessica Soong, 65, said that when she takes the shuttle bus two to three times a week to run errands, she usually sees about one to two others on the bus. On some occasions, she is the only one on board

Likewise, Mdm Mariam Ngawam, who frequently takes the Marine Parade shuttle, said she sees only about five to six people on the bus most of the time.

“Why do they want to stop (the service)? Maybe because it’s not so full,” she said.

The cost of the service, up to about S$1 million to operate, is also not lost on the residents.

“I’m looking at all the old people now taking the bus, and they’re really enjoying it, but I know that S$1 million is a lot of money,” said Marine Crescent resident Florence Poh. 

A few pointed out that while ridership might be poor, it showed signs of an uptick as elderly passengers needed time to familiarise with the service. Hence, it felt like a waste to cancel it when some routes are starting to become popular.

Mdm Poh said that when she started to take the service last year, not many elderly knew about it and the bus was virtually empty.

“Then finally one by one, more and more hopped on, and there have been a few days that I've seen the bus totally full,” said the 75-year-old retiree.

She added that she has also made friends on the bus by sharing information on events and deals in the area among the other commuters, things that she finds harder to do on a public bus with a more mixed demographic.

“Sometimes, communication is good for old people,” she said.

NEED TO 'BALANCE' IMPACT OF DONATION FUNDS: TIN PEI LING

Speaking to CNA in a phone interview, Ms Tin said that the ridership for the buses has not been even across each division, where some are “really quite bad”, while others are “a lot healthier”.

She said that the resources used include S$200,000 from from a seed grant from the South East Community Development Council, with the rest coming from donations, which is “not government money”.

She said there needs to be “balance” in how to maximise the impact of these donation dollars. 

“Given that, after internal review, feedback and all of the above, we will not extend the contract this time, and we will introduce more targeted programmes, which we will be announcing soon,” she said.

More details will be given in due time, added Ms Tin.

She said that during the week of the announcement, there will be volunteers at the bus stops and on buses telling the passengers that the service will cease in November.

There will also be help rendered to those who “need help in the interim” without the buses. For instance, she said that financial support can be considered as the shuttle buses were free to board.

She added that 15 months is “not a very short time” and that the contract for the bus service, which was initially for a year, was extended until November.

“We sincerely thank everyone for their support. We are heartened that those who use it found it useful, we also want to take into consideration others who don’t use it and find ways to support them,” she said.