Tuesday 24 February 2015

[Straits Times] My Point

Stop bus drivers running lights

EVEN though I drive mostly on weekends, I have often seen public buses running the red light.

It is anybody's guess as to how often this happens on a daily basis.

There could be several reasons why the drivers are doing so.

First, the drivers may have come from a country where running the red light is not frowned upon, and they have not dropped this habit when driving here.

Second, the drivers know where there are no red-light cameras and take advantage of this to make up for lost time when they are behind schedule.

The authorities should take stronger action against such culprits, especially those who drive bigger vehicles.

I suggest that the authorities compel the public bus operators to install in-vehicle cameras in every bus and select buses at random to have the footage inspected.

As an added deterrence, a monetary penalty should be imposed on those who get caught.

Seah Kian Chong





Raise standards first, then fares

FOR public transport operators, profits from rental of retail space or advertising sales should be channelled towards improving the efficiency of their trains and buses ("Balancing financial viability with affordable fares"; Feb 14).

Profits should be an incentive to improve efficiency, but not at the expense of commuters.

The impetus is to be efficient; to keep costs low; to find better, faster and cheaper ways of running buses and trains.

Fare increases should be allowed only when service standards have improved and when public transport operators find it challenging to continue delivering such services at prevailing fares.

I look forward to the new bus financing model ("First public bus route package up for bidding"; Oct 4, 2014) and hope that the operators will find new ways to better run their routes.

Edwin Yang Jiajing