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Of long waits and 'leap-frogging' buses
Tue, Jan 01, 2008 The Straits Times
I RIDE SMRT bus service 980 frequently. As if the usual waiting time of 15 minutes was not already long enough, on the night of Dec 21, I ended up having to wait 34 minutes for TIB909L (let's call this Bus 1) to arrive, en route to the Sembawang Interchange. The stated frequency of arrival is 13 to 17 minutes between 7pm and 8pm. As I expected, after such a long wait, the bus was already packed when it arrived. One would have expected the travel pace to pick up to make up for lost time, but that was not to be. Along the way, the bus filled up with even more passengers, and eventually, had to deny commuters at at least two bus stops. Some of these passengers had also probably waited as long as I had for the bus.

I have seen this type of 'leap-frogging' practice many times before, and I have come to expect it whenever I have to wait an inordinately long time for buses to arrive. I deduce that for some reason, this 'leap-frogging' is needed to ensure that Bus 2 arrives at the interchange before Bus 1, and Bus 1 has to reduce its pace for Bus 2 to catch up, which would explain the scenario above. I have also noticed this practice on SMRT service 167, and also on SBS Transit bus services. It appears that this is prevalent in our public bus system.

I would like to hear from the bus service operators and relevant authorities, as to why such 'leap-frogging' has to be applied, and if these organisations are even aware of its existence. Bus fares have gone up almost without fail in the recent past. When are commuters going to enjoy an appreciable improvement in waiting times for buses?

Peter Wee Teik Hui