Dust buster bus

Over the last 10 years or so the Singapore public bus companies have changed all their buses to air-conditioned ones.

Gone are the days of foggy windows on a rainy day. Gone are the days of finger drawing on the condensation – my version of legal graffitti. No more greasy wind blowing into my face as I looked out the window on fine days.

For about $0.64 (shortest ride) you can begin to enjoy the modern comforts of the public transport system.

You can even enjoy free MobileTV on board, when the signal is clear. Otherwise, it’s no better than watching a pirated DVD of jerky or stuck pictures and missing dialogue.

If you’re bored with MobileTV, and are not reading a book – and lately I find myself reading less and less on the bus because it’s all wrapped up in advertisements that cut down light filtering through the windows by at least half – your eyes wander… to the aircon vents and filter.

There are other times you might look at it. Like when the fan level is so low, people are suffocating away and they stare at the vent, adjusting it here and there hoping more cool air will come spewing out. Or when you are woken up by a strange cold liquid dripping on your head from a clogged vent.

The problem with airconditioned buses is dust accumulation.

It can’t be helped. The bus is driving many times a day up and down dusty routes, stopping at dusty bus stops. And when the door opens to let passengers board or alight, you can imagine the dust that rushes in and the cold air that rushes out.

I’ve wondered how frequently the airconditioning system gets cleaned and overhauled. Whatever they’re doing now, it’s not enough.

The dripping vents tell me this. The dust shadows around the filters tell me this. The clogged up filter shows me this. You can even see the hurried black wipe marks of a blackened cloth used to clean a dust-blackened surface.

Worse still, I’ve noticed bus drivers driving with their windows open. In fact, drivers are the only ones who have windows that can be opened. The only way to open any other window is to use a little hammer and smash the glass in case of an emergency.

I’m sure the bus driver is very cold. All he does is sit down, he can’t stretch and move about too much, power steering means a little movement of his wrist can help turn the bus, so I’m guessing hot blood isn’t circulating around his body enough.

But this isn’t the right solution. The driver should put on a jacket, wear a cap or close the vents near him rather than opening the window. If required their employers should provide drivers with winterwear if necessary.

When the bus driver is driving with that window open, the bus becomes a huge vacuum cleaner, sucking up every particle into the bus, stressing out the airconditioning system more than it necessarily needs to.

If this were a good thing, offices would be built with windows we could open whenever we feel cold. But they’re not.

Dust is enemy number one when it comes to airconditioning systems. It makes them less efficient, causing it to work harder, using up more energy resources, contributing to the thinning ozone layer, increasing the greenhouse effect, making us demand for cooler buses with drivers who want to keep warmer with their windows open.

In hot sun or in cool bus, we’re killing ourselves.