Tower Transit Singapore’s first month of operations yields ‘good outcomes’
Tower Transit Singapore has seen “good outcomes” about a month after it started offering bus services. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY
SINGAPORE — About a month after it started offering bus services as the first operator under the Government’s bus contracting model, Tower Transit Singapore has seen “good outcomes”, with the authorities receiving positive commuter feedback of more regular bus timings and smoother journeys, said Land Transport Authority (LTA) chief executive Chew Men Leong on Friday (July 1).
Measured against the concept of excess wait time, which determines the regularity of services, Tower Transit has fared relatively well.
Mr Chew was speaking to reporters during a visit to the Bukit Batok Bus Interchange, where Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan officially launched the first package of bus routes under the new model.
Under the bus contracting model, the operators earn a fee for running bus services, while the Government retains fare revenues.
Having begun its first tranche of services on May 29, Tower Transit is now operating all 26 services under the package, with the third — and final — tranche hitting the roads last Sunday.
The services run from the Bukit Batok, Clementi and Jurong East interchanges and there are 322 Tower Transit buses on the roads.
Mr Khaw, who was joined by several Members of Parliament, including Yuhua MP Grace Fu, who is also Culture, Community and Youth Minister, and Bukit Batok MP Murali Pillai, was given a tour of the Bukit Batok Bus Interchange by Tower Transit and LTA officials. They visited its Passenger Service Office and canteen, run by the National Transport Workers’ Union, among others.
In an interview with the media after the visit, Mr Andrew Bujtor, Tower Transit Singapore’s managing director, said the firm has had “a very good first month”, but there is always room for improvement.
For example, many of its employees did not hail from the bus industry before joining the firm, and there is “a lot of experience to be gained, a lot of learning to be done”, he added.
To ease the learning curve for new bus captains, the firm has taken steps, including putting on additional work, learning and information sessions.
New bus captains, who joined with no experience in bus driving, also had a mentor paired with them on journeys for at least a week, said Mr Glenn Lim, Tower Transit Singapore’s group communications director.
Added Mr Bujtor: “We’ll see a lot of people learning a lot over the next six months, and really, that will pay dividends in the service as well.”
