Commuters in Singapore can rejoice! In the midst of public transport fee ‘adjustments’, the Public Transport Commission has decided that public transport company must have certain levels of service to adhere to or risk getting slapped with a fine.

I mean if you pay more, then must have better service mah… fair right?

The service standards cover six essential aspects of service -

* Bus service reliability – for example, at least 85 percent of bus services should not deviate more than 5 minutes from the scheduled frequency
* Loading – for example, weekday peak period bus loading shouldn’t exceed 95 percent
* Safety
* Provision of information
* Availability of bus services
* Integration with other modes of public transport

This idea looks damn good man. Companies, scared kena fine, sure provide good service one right? Ok, set. Can sell car, take bus liao.

Ur… wait ah… what if these companies kena fine until buay tahan leh? Fines slapped on them is like operational cost right? So… operational cost increase then what happen leh?

‘Adjust’ prices lor…

Lidat then who really suffer for poor service? You say leh? You say leh?

Toad, the soothsayer says, “Service standards will remain world class*. But public transport prices will definitely be first class.”

*Most parts of the world do not have public transports… so tell me, do we really want to aim for world class ah?