Today I boarded the 170 on a ride from Sim Lim Square to Coronation Plaza.
I’ve probably taken this service no more than five times in my life.
When I first boarded it, I was immediately stunned by the stench in the bus. It smelt like cow dung. It was disgusting.
I looked around the bus and the condition of it was appalling.
Here are some images that I took with my mobile phone:
In this picture, there are black splash marks from the airconditioning vent. Further away from the vent (indicated by the green arrow) the ceiling of the bus is less blackened.
Again, more splash type marks from the vent, indicating dirty air spewing out of the airconditioning vent on a regular basis.
Here, the yellow arrows indicate all the black and (what appears to be) oily marks over all the surfaces of the ceiling. When buses are serviced, shouldn’t this be cleaned off?
At the back of the bus, more black marks appearing from the joint. The pattern of the marks seems to indicate that at times the vents leak and the water flows to the back part of the bus, where even more dust collects.
These are stains. Either they haven’t been washed off properly. Or the condition still exists that those stains cannot be removed.
Either way, are you as shocked as I am by the state of this bus?
About a month back, I boarded a bus with one of the metal skirting running on the edge of the bus, dangling on one end because the screws had fallen out. It was flipping about dangerously. The bus was also quite dirty with these similar stains, but not as bad. Plus, this particular bus was painted entirely of light beige paint and so any dirt could be seen.
So I’d say this bus 170 is probably worse.
This bus takes a long route and enters into Malaysia. This probably taxes the bus more than a regular one as these buses frequently have to endure the long jams along the Causeway. I definitely hope that they get more than the “regular maintenence of 2 to 3 weeks“.
If not, no wonder this bus looks and smells horrid.
But how could this bus still be in service in this state?
I wonder if it’s because Malaysians (who use this bus service to go back home) are a more tolerant lot that they can endure these conditions. I wonder if it’s because they’re used to a transport system back home that’s less reliable.
No matter what, I think Singapore bus companies have to be held to a higher standard. We are afterall a country that prides itself on being world class. And the bus companies also like to increase fares on a pretty regular basis. One would think some money goes to improving the quality of bus service.
If this particular 170 had to ply an Orchard Road route, I’d be willing to bet that complaints would increase dramatically.
Is there any excuse for buses in this state to go unnoticed?
Who else could (and should) have said something?
The bus driver?
In the past the bus company offered two jobs on any bus – the driver and the ticket seller. The driver drove the bus and the ticket seller collected money in exchange for a bus ticket. One man, one job.
The bus companies then eliminated the bus ticket seller and the driver now had to collect the money in a box and issue a ticket and drive the bus.
This was called the One Man Operation (or OMO as it was referred to frequently). The bus driver had to do two jobs for the price of one.
Today, the ticket seller has been replaced by the passenger. The onus is on the passenger to tap his contactless TransitLink card that contains a pre-paid stored value when he enters the bus and once again when he leaves the bus.
If the passenger fails to tap his card on the exit, he is charged for the maximum amount of the bus ride, even if he alights one stop away from his boarding point.
The driver is back to one job. Driving the bus.
Between you and me, he doesn’t always do a good job of it. What to do? He doesn’t have a choice. He’s steering the bus with one hand. The other hand is holding the mobile phone as he’s busy buying and selling shares.
The driver sits in the bus and has to work in this dirty, cow-dung scented bus. He works in the bus company. Why hasn’t he said anything?
(By the way, doesn’t anyone find it weird that we have to tap our contactless TransitLink card on the card reader? Doesn’t the word “tap” imply contact?)
What about the bus inspector?
All along, with the two man system, the OMO system and now with the passenger-works-for-bus-company-for-free- and-yet-has-to-pay-a-higher-fare system, there has been the dreaded Bus Inspector.
He boards now and then. Checks that you haven’t overstayed your welcome on the bus. What he does between now and then, no one knows.
Back in the day of the OMO system, a lot of people underpaid and overstayed. The Bus Inspector would beckon for your ticket or shake you up if you’d fallen asleep. You’d pass him your ticket. He’d study it and if you were good, he’d tear the ticket and return it to you and you’d stuff the ticket in some crevice in the bus seat and go back to sleep.
If he was suspicious of something, (like if you had bleached/dyed hair, were a guy with long flowing locks or had the face of a potential cheating overstayer) he’d ask you where you were alighting. To scare you. Just in case you were thinking of overstaying.
Today, the Bus Inspector doesn’t have a ticket to tear because you don’t get one anymore. He comes in with this huge machine and then takes and scans your contactless card. (There’s a lot of contact with this contactless card.)
The Bus Inspector only needs to check that you did tap your card on entry. He knows that you’ll tap the exit card reader when you leave, because if you don’t you’d have to pay for more than your ride was worth and Singaporeans don’t like paying more than necessary.
Is it too much to ask that this Bus Inspector takes a look around when he boards the bus? Take note of the faults within the bus. Put himself in the shoes of the passenger? Or perhaps strike up a conversation with a passenger to get his feedback about the bus service?
Obviously.
After all, everyone’s too busy doing one job each.