Written Reply by Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan to Parliamentary Question on Improvement of Quality of Standards for Buses under Bus Contracting Model

Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Transport

a.     whether under the Bus Contracting Model, the Quality of Service (QoS) standards for bus services, particularly with respect to scheduled headway during peak hours, have improved; and

b.     how technology leveraged upon to monitor the bus services' operating and quality of service performance standards regularly.

Reply by Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan:

1.     Commuters have enjoyed higher service levels, in particular during peak hours, since the transition to the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) in September 2016. All trunk bus services are now scheduled at headways of 15 minutes or less during the morning and evening peak periods, compared to the pre-BCM standard of 30 minutes or less. 

2.     Peak-hour service levels of feeder services have also improved. All feeder services now have scheduled headways of not more than eight minutes, compared to the pre-BCM standard of not more than 10 minutes for at least 90% of feeder services. 

3.     LTA regularly monitors bus operations and service performance by tapping on commuter travel data from the fare ticketing system, and bus GPS data from the Common Fleet Management System (CFMS). LTA uses these data to adjust bus capacities in tandem with demand changes, to ensure that bus services keep to the standards.