Travel patterns, connectivity among factors when planning bus services

Network must balance convenience and keeping costs affordable: Chee Hong Tat

- Gabrielle Chan

Commuter travel patterns and the overall connectivity and resilience of the public transport network are among factors considered when bus services are changed, said Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat.

Mr Chee, who was speaking in Parliament on Feb 16, was responding to Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam's questions to the Ministry of Transport about the reason behind amending and retaining bus routes and the factors considered.

In his reply, the Transport Minister said that the public transport network requires a balance between providing convenience for commuters and keeping overall costs affordable for commuters and taxpayers.

This includes making changes to some existing bus services that run parallel routes to new MRT lines and have experienced significant reductions in ridership levels, he said, adding that these assessments are done case by case.

"It is certainly the more popular thing to do if we just keep all bus services intact, even if their ridership levels have fallen significantly, while adding new MRT lines and introducing new bus services and routes to serve residents from new estates," Mr Chee said.