National Solidarity Party

Update 24^th Apr 2012: The Ministry of Transport has issued a reply to our letter. The reply is shown after our letter.

NSP Letter to Minister for Transport

13 Apr 12

Minister for Transport, Mr Lui Tuck Yew

Dear Sir,

Safety of Public Transport

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) requests accountability from the Ministry of Transport over the spate of public transport-related casualties in recent months.

The recent spate of events involving fatal casualties as a consequence of bus-related accidents concerns us all. The safety of commuters and passengers has been compromised. This is unacceptable.

Although the public has received a response from both SBS and SMRT following questions about hiring practices and employment quotas, NSP feels that the information that has been made public does not address the root cause of this disturbing trend, nor does it offer solutions that can eliminate it and ensure the safety of commuters.

NSP would like to raise the following questions, which we trust the Ministry of Transport can address with openness and accountability:

1 (i) Will the Ministry furnish the public with statistics on the incidence of public bus-related casualties over the past decade and confirm that there has indeed been an unprecedented rise in the occurrence of such accidents?

1 (ii) If such a trend has indeed been identified, has the Ministry recognised it and what is the Ministry doing to pinpoint and eliminate the cause of this trend?

1 (iii) Currently, there is only one criterion (out of eleven) under the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements that relates to safety:

“Accident rate on all bus services Less than 0.75 per 100,000 bus-km per month”.

The penalty for non-compliance is a fine of $10,000.  Does the Ministry recognise that our regulatory system places insufficient emphasis on safety and is woefully inadequate to protect the safety of commuters, pedestrians and drivers?

2. The Ministry has announced that $1.1bn of taxpayer’s money will be used to procure 800 new buses and hire additional 1600 drivers.  This sudden and drastic increase in the demand for bus drivers will likely result in the engagement of more non-Singaporean bus drivers unaccustomed to our road system and safety practices. The haste to make up for the capacity shortfall built up over the past few years could result in our road users’ safety being further compromised.  The public has been alarmed by the recent spate of accidents involving buses and fear for the safety of our young and elderly in particular. It is irresponsible to continue treating the recruitment of bus drivers as a strictly private matter to be decided by the bus companies. The safety of commuters and road users is a public matter, and hiring practices that jeopardize the safety of these Singaporeans should be treated as a public matter. Will the Ministry be reviewing the criteria for qualifying bus drivers and raising the bar in the interest of safety?

NSP looks forward to MOT’s response.

Thank you.

Yours truly,
Hazel Poa
Secretary-General
For the 14th CEC of NSP

Reply from Ministry of Transport

19 Apr 2012

Dear Hazel,

Thank you for your letter to Minister Lui Tuck Yew. Minister has read your letter and asked that we reply on his behalf.

We would like to assure you that the safety of every commuter who uses our public transport system is a key priority for the Ministry.

As you have mentioned, the Public Transport Council (PTC) monitors the bus accident rate per 100,000 bus-km operated as part of the bus Quality of Service Standards.  This is a suitable indicator to use as it normalises any adjustments in the scale of public bus operations.  The rates appear to be relatively stable in recent years and there are no clear trends.  In fact, injuries and fatalities from public bus-related accidents last year fell compared to 2010. The number of public-bus related injuries and fatalities during the first three months of 2012 are also lower than the numbers in the corresponding period last year. This information has been shared in the Sunday Times article on 15 Apr.  You may also refer to related information on the number of bus accidents involving public buses that Minister has shared in Parliament and which was publicly released just last November.

Nevertheless, as public safety is a key priority, the PTC will certainly continue to pay close attention to this issue.   An important factor is to ensure that drivers are properly trained with an emphasis on safety; are properly equipped with the necessary skill-sets; and are familiar with the routes and road conditions when they are driving.  In particular, anyone who wants to drive a public bus on Singapore roads will require a vocational licence from the LTA.   An applicant for a bus driver vocational licence has to possess a qualified Class 3 Singapore driving licence with at least one year’s driving experience and a clean driving record, while drivers of public buses are required to hold at least a Class 4A driving licence. All applicants must pass a training course before they are granted vocational licences to drive buses. This is in addition to the mandatory training courses of up to 9 weeks’ duration that new drivers are put through by the bus operators, covering training in bus operations, customer service and safety, safe driving, emergency handling procedures, and on-the-road training for familiarity with bus routes and different types of buses. The training duration is also typically longer for foreign bus drivers, to allow them to develop greater familiarity with local traffic conditions, and better conversational language proficiency.  Such rigorous requirements will continue as we roll out the Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP) together with the Public Transport Operators (PTOs).  Both the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the PTC will continue to work with the PTOs to put in measures to strengthen the safety regime for our bus operations.

We would like to assure you that the Ministry, LTA and the PTC take the issue of public transport safety very seriously and will closely monitor issues of commuter safety on our public transport network.

Julia Hang
Quality Service Manager
for Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Transport