Lui Tuck Yew
Singapore
“What they do is that they report to me on a three-monthly basis. After the December 2011 incident, I felt that the way LTA was overseeing the operators needed some improvement. In the past, we were looking at the outcomes and the indicators that we get every so often.”
“SMRT has also combed through the tunnels to ensure that there are no other leaks with water dripping onto trackside installations and will be installing data loggers at all traction power substations within the next two months to better monitor the condition of the insulators.”
“But because we think that actually it could have lasted us longer if it was better maintained over the years, therefore, you also take a discount from what the Government would otherwise have to pay. But the formulas are all set out in the White Paper. I believe I have answered the Member's questions.”
“The tight labour market is, indeed, a challenge for the bus industry. To address this, a multi-pronged strategy is needed. To attract more local bus captains, both operators have raised entry level base monthly salaries by about $400 since the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) commenced in 2012.”
“Over the past three years, there were 355 cases of fare evasion and 162 cases of passengers assaulting taxi drivers. Passengers found guilty of fare evasion may be fined up to $1,000 and repeat offenders may be fined up to $2,000 or jailed for up to six months, or both.”
“The insolvency of Alpine Bau affected the completion timeline of three stations, namely, Tan Kah Kee, Sixth Avenue and King Albert Park, and their associated tunnels.”
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“Currently, our crowding level during the most Page: 165 crowded periods in the morning peak hours is about four to five passengers per square metre, similar to cities like Hong Kong, Taipei and London. London is a little bit more crowded perhaps because their people are generally of a larger build and size, but these are the cities in this ballpark. The next slide shows Members what the situation is in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai. I want to assure Members that we certainly do not intend to move in this direction. In fact, we want to do more in order to reduce the level of crowdedness that we currently face, and I will speak more on this later on. In addition, I know that for commuters, uncertain waiting times for buses means that the journey is less predictable, and more stressful. When service disruptions or even short delays happen, commuters are inconvenienced. I want to state unequivocally that the Government will spare no effort to address these problems. Over the last two months, I have announced our long-term plans on increasing public transport capacity. During the debate on the Population White Paper, I also covered the improvements over the next five years. I would like to assure Singaporeans that dealing with the needs of our commuters "here-and-now" is the key focus for my Ministry, even as we roll out our longer-term infrastructure plans. Let me now take Members through our plans to improve public transport in the near term, before moving on to talk briefly about the medium- and longer-term initiatives. First, we will do whatever is within our means and capability to increase our public transport capacity in the short term.”
“We take these seriously, and one of the ways we try to understand these concerns better is through the annual Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey (PTCSS), which UniSIM conducts every year. The latest PTCSS was conducted in October 2012 – as usual – and it shows that Singaporeans' overall satisfaction with the public transport system has dipped from 90.3% in 2011 to 88.8% last year. Satisfaction levels for bus and rail reliability also fell, by around one and three percentage points respectively. On the other hand, satisfaction on bus travel times rose by three percentage points to 79% from the year before and about 64% of respondents, when asked a direct question on whether public transport had improved in 2012 compared to the previous year, about 64% had indicated so and it was a yes and no question. So, about 64% had said yes and I hope that we will continue to see further improvements as we embark on some of the measures that I will talk about a little later on. The general drop in commuter satisfaction stems largely from crowdedness and reliability issues. From commuter feedback as well as my own experiences taking public transport, I know that it can be congested on the buses and trains along certain stretches during the morning peak hours. 6.30 pm With your permission, Mr Chairman, may I display some slides on the LCD screens? [Some Slides were shown to hon Members.] If we take a look at the screens, we will recognise that peak hour crowdedness is not a phenomenon that only happens in Singapore; we see it in all major cities with mature metro systems. I have divided it into two groups – one that sets a standard of about four to five passengers per square metre, as we see in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, London and so on.”
“Mr Chairman, first, let me express my appreciation to hon Members for the many thoughtful and thought-provoking speeches and suggestions both during COS and Budget debate. As Mr Liang Eng Hwa had so eloquently reminded us, Members have also favoured us, MOT, with the most cuts and allocated time at this COS. Let me thank Members for that. Fortunately, it is only 50 cuts and not the proverbial 1,000 cuts. Public transport is, obviously, a topic that is close to the hearts of many of our Members as well as Singaporeans, and I will try my best to sketch out some of the priorities and key objectives in the coming years, as well as respond to as many of the questions and issues raised as possible. Before I do so, I thought it would be useful to take stock of what we have been doing for the past five years since we announced the 2008 Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP 2008). With Mr Chairman's permission, may I request for a summary of the key initiatives undertaken since LTMP 2008 to be circulated to Page: 164 Members for reference? [A handout was distributed to Members.] I do not intend to run through the handout. I hope Members will take time to look at it. I would like to thank Members like Mr Alex Yam for their concerns over the progress of the Master Plan and I believe that this summary should give the House an overall perspective of the commitment that we have undertaken to enhance the overall land transport system. I appreciate and understand Members' very real concerns about the public transport system. This reflects the feedback that Members hear from your residents and your constituents.”
“With effect from FY2012, the Government has decided to allow the public bus operators, namely SBS Transit and SMRT Buses, to retain a portion of the advertising licensing fees from billboards at bus stops. The portion each operator receives is determined by the scale of its operations and the total advertising licensing fee collected. For FY2012, SBS Transit is expected to receive around $13 million and SMRT Buses $5 million. Prior to FY2012, the bus operators did not receive any revenue from bus stop advertisements. Page: 157”
“Mdm Speaker, the Member is right in that this was not the first fire at Newton Station. The last was in 2004, which incidentally was also the last incident in the MRT system. The passengers in this case were ushered as quickly as possible out of the station, contrary to impressions that they were allowed to mill around and so on. Whether we can effectively prevent any passenger from taking a photograph if they choose to do so is something that needs to be looked further into.”
“I was rather concerned to see that passengers were milling around the train platforms and were also taking photographs that were eventually uploaded on social media websites. I do not know whether the assessment was that it was a small fire and so there was no need to unnecessarily alarm passengers. But is that the protocol? Would that not be somewhat dangerous, given that it is hard to ascertain how serious a fire is, especially in an enclosed area?”
“Mdm Speaker, let me assure Members that the safety of passengers in our MRT system is of utmost importance. Therefore, any incident of a fire is taken extremely seriously, even if in this case, the fire was small and localised in the tunnel off Newton station. I have been briefed on the preliminary findings by SMRT and LTA. I have made clear to both agencies that I expect a thorough investigation to find out the root cause of the fire, and to learn useful lessons on how we can better manage similar incidents in the future, so that we can improve on passenger safety. Both SMRT and LTA will also look into preventive measures. At this juncture, what we have established is that the fire was caused by a short circuit, most likely due to cable insulation issues. This will be confirmed by laboratory tests which should conclude in the coming few weeks. As an immediate measure, the cables at the affected stretch have been replaced. SMRT has also conducted a complete insulation test of all underground traction cables and stepped up its insulation checks on similar installations at all tunnels. Page: 11 SCDF took swift action to put out the fire and fortunately, there were no injuries to commuters, or serious damage to the MRT system. The regular fire and rescue emergency exercises jointly held by SCDF, LTA and the operators helped in this regard. Nonetheless, we should await the investigations' findings and improve our incident management plans where needed. Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister for Transport a follow-up question. I understand that this is not the first fire at Newton MRT Station.”
“LTA will be installing noise barriers at selected stretches of road viaducts as part of a trial. The trial will allow LTA to assess the effectiveness of such barriers, as well as ascertain the challenges in their installation, maintenance and design. The trial locations are being finalised and LTA will engage specialist contractors to propose appropriate noise barriers for the trial. Page: 114”
“The Public Transport Council regularly reviews the various schemes that licensed private bus operators to provide services that complement the public bus network. For instance, guidelines for Premium Bus Services were reviewed to encourage operators to provide more direct connections to work places. The Shuttle Bus Service scheme was also enhanced to make it easier for operators to run short routes to areas where basic bus services are unable to meet the needs of residents. Today, there are 90 Premium Bus Services run by 21 different licensees, and 83 Shuttle Bus Services run by 37 licensees. We will continue to review whether more and different types of non-basic public transport bus services can be implemented to better serve the needs of local communities. Er Dr Lee also asked if we have plans to review the bus routes operated by the two public transport operators to create competition and improve efficiency. We will look into such issues in the longer term, but our immediate priority is to improve bus service levels and inject more buses and routes to improve capacity and connectivity, amongst others, through the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP).”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the debate be now adjourned.”
“9 million population by 2030 is the Page: 128 parameter that we are using to plan for our land transport infrastructure. We have sized the doubling of the rail network so that there is sufficient buffer for the projected or possible 30% population increase as well as change in travel behaviours. I know that commuters should find travelling more convenient with this expanded network and their journey a more predictable and comfortable one. But we do not need to wait till 2030 for this to happen. Over the next five years, we will significantly increase capacity with additional trains, we will open a new MRT segment every year, and we will work hard to improve reliability for train and bus services. You have my assurance that I will do my utmost to improve our public transport system. I am confident that we will deliver an enhanced and higher quality transport system for Singaporeans in the years to come.”
“Commuters who are able and willing to travel off-peak on the SMRT network today can already save up to 50 cents off their rail fare if they exit at designated stations in CBD before 7.45 am. The scheme has seen some initial success, and we have seen about 3% to 4% of commuters move their travel period out of the peak hours. We will continue to see how this can be made even more effective, and will consider further improvements possibly later this year. Besides this SMRT scheme which gives an immediate discount, we also have a scheme for off-peak commuters to accumulate points for more sizeable rewards, of up to $200, when they travel off-peak. This is the "Incentives for Singapore's Commuters" scheme, or INSINC for short, and it has been quite popular, especially among the younger and more tech-savvy commuters. We have seen their membership grow from about 35,000 last October to 60,000 participants today. Our analysis shows that for this group, which is more interested in such an arrangement, about 10% of them has shifted from peak to off-peak travel. We expect the effect of these schemes to continue to grow, as commuters take time to make arrangements to adjust their travel behaviour, and we will certainly continue to review them for greater effectiveness. In the mean time, we are also working with major employers and institutions, especially in the CBD, to inject more flexibility in their working hours, and to help them understand the travel needs of their employees. This will enable them to implement the necessary workplace practices to facilitate their employees to travel off-peak. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me conclude by drawing us back to the longer term plans for public transport. A possible 6.”
“This is something that I am keen to try out and LTA will begin to trial this scheme on some services in the second half of this year. But to derive the full benefits from the measures that I have just mentioned, we must also give more priority to buses on our roads. Today, we have about 180 km of bus lanes and about 200 Mandatory Give-Way to Buses scheme. Over the next two years, we will spend close to $50 million to improve bus reliability, such as adding another 30 km of bus lanes, increasing the Mandatory Give-Way scheme to another 150 bus stops, and quadruple the number of bus hubs from 10 to 40 so that more buses can pick up passengers at the same time. We will also step up bus lane enforcement as infringements will result in delays for Page: 127 buses and commuters. We will also improve train reliability. A train that has to be withdrawn from service leads to ripple effects like overcrowding and delays throughout the rail network and inconveniences commuters greatly. The Joint Team that was formed between LTA-SMRT has achieved some success over the past six months. Train withdrawals on the North-South and East-West Lines have decreased sharply. Today, we experience about one train withdrawal for every 1,000 trips on these two lines and we aim to improve this by about another 20% by the end of the year. We will improve further in subsequent years, and aim to halve the withdrawal rate to one train withdrawal every 2,000 trips as we upgrade the trains and place more attention on preventive maintenance. Besides supply-side measures, we also want to encourage commuters to spread out their travel to outside the peak hours, and we have introduced several incentive schemes to do so.”
“LTA will be tendering some of the new BSEP routes, and I invite private operators to respond. We will contract out more City Direct-type bus services which run during the morning peak hours along the expressways into the city, and we will also work with operators to see if it is possible to extend such contracting arrangements to other new, shorter services, for instance, localised routes in estates that feed to MRT stations. If successful, this will allow us to scale up the BSEP beyond the 550 buses that the two public bus operators are committed to implement, and give us the resources to implement more new routes and other service improvements. But even with the BSEP, commuters tell me that waiting times for buses at their bus stops are irregular. Sometimes, they wait a long time for their bus, and then two or three buses come together, especially during peak hours – a not-too-uncommon experience, judging by the smiles I see. Therefore, even as we operate more buses, we will need to work with bus operators to improve the reliability of their buses en-route, so that commuters experience more regular waiting times. There are a number of examples, like in London and Seoul, of how they have implemented a framework and worked with the operators to achieve this. They shared with me how they have managed, with difficulty, to improve bus reliability over a number of years through an incentive-and-penalty system based on commuters' expected waiting times at the bus stop. Their bus operators have to adopt a new mindset, invest substantially in fleet management capabilities to monitor their buses, and make appropriate interventions so buses arrive at more regular intervals along the entire route.”
“In total, what this all means is that during the busiest one hour in the morning, our assessment is that we will have the capacity to carry 70% more passengers into the CBD in five years' time compared to what we have today. I do not expect that there will be such a sharp increase in ridership. Hence, what this implies is that, for most commuters taking the train into the city, the journey will be less crowded by then. During off-peak hours and weekends, commuters can also expect trains to arrive more frequently. I have already announced that during the off-peak hours, no commuter will have to wait more than five minutes for a train, except very early in the morning and very late at night. We are targeting to apply this requirement to the North-South and East-West Lines this year, and we will extend it to the other MRT lines by around 2015. For buses, we have made good progress in rolling out the Bus Service Enhancement Programme, or BSEP for short. Since its launch last September, we have added about 90 new buses, improved about 50 bus services and implemented five new routes. Feedback has been positive. Recruitment of drivers permitting – again, local or foreign – I aim to accelerate the BSEP. This year, we will add about 190 new buses, which means that half of the 550 buses promised under the five-year programme will be on our roads by the end of the year. This will allow us to roll out more new routes, and improvements to more Page: 126 bus services across the island. Commuters can, therefore, experience tangible improvements in shorter waiting times, less crowding, and better connectivity. I have also asked LTA to see how we can tap on the resources of private bus operators in specific areas to accelerate this programme.”
“Because we were too prudent and conservative in public transport infrastructure investment during the early years of the last decade, we now find ourselves doing a lot of catching up. I, therefore, fully understand the scepticism and unhappiness from the public when the 6.9 million population figure was released in the White Paper. Seen through the prism of the current situation, I can appreciate how unthinkable it may seem that we can accommodate a population by 2030, that is, 30% higher than today, even though we have firm plans to double the rail Page: 125 network over this same period. But I do believe that we will begin to see a gradual but noticeable and perceptible improvement over the next five years. Why do I say this? Capacity in our rail and bus network will grow over the next five years. Between now and 2017, the Downtown Line will open in phases and this will add significant new capacity to the east-west corridor. People living around the Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Panjang areas will have a new and faster route to the city centre by 2015. This will help to relieve congestion at Jurong East and along the East-West Line. Likewise, people in Tampines will have a choice of two MRT lines to get to the city centre while others along Bedok Reservoir and along Ubi will no longer need to rely on the East-West Line. For the existing North-South and East-West Lines, we will complete the re-signalling work to increase capacity during the peak hours by 20%. We will also add about 70% more total capacity to the northeast corridor and 60% more capacity to the Circle Line with the delivery of new trains by 2015.”
“We would have completed five more lines across the island – the Downtown Line, Thomson Line, Eastern Region Line, Cross Island Line and Jurong Region Line – to join the four that we already have. Perhaps we may have even more new lines under construction by then. We had a very interesting exchange on workers. I, therefore, ask that whoever is in charge will give us special dispensation on foreign workers for MRT construction, in particular, so that we can bring all these plans to fruition. So, what, you may ask, about all these new lines that we are adding? Well, what it means is that we will have a much expanded public transport network, we would have added new capacity, and I believe that the travel experience will improve significantly as commuters are distributed over a larger network. By 2030, eight in 10 households will be within a 10-minute walk from an MRT station. Ninety percent of our buildings in the CBD area will be within a five-minute walk. The rail network will bring us to almost all key parts of Singapore and many can be less dependent on the vagaries of the bus feeders to reach their destinations. However, the 2030 vision of a very convenient and high-quality public transport system is not so easy for many Singaporeans to visualise. What we have experienced in public transport in the last few years has affected how we view the future. We should have invested more in building new lines and buying new trains in the early years of the last decade. As the Prime Minister had explained, this was because of the very challenging economic circumstances, and we also had the difficult experience of the North East Line opening in 2003 and operating for a number of years with ridership well below what was planned for.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, please let me share our land transport plans in support of the Population White Paper. I would touch briefly on these plans to support a possible population of 6.9 million by 2030. But I think it is more important for me to spend more time talking about the near term plans to improve the situation that we face today. I try to ride on various parts of the rail network on a regular basis to get a first-hand update on the situation on the ground. I am mindful that this is not a complete experience because, unlike many commuters, when I do go on such visits, I do not face the constraint of getting to a particular destination by a defined time. Nonetheless, I think my conclusions are something that most Singaporeans will share and agree with. First, during the morning peak hours, outside of the school holiday periods, it is very congested. I can understand why commuters are frustrated because, for them, this is a daily experience. Second, many commuters have to take a feeder to reach an MRT station, or from the station to their final destination. This can add quite significantly to their total journey time. Third, the variable waiting times and crowdedness on buses mean that the journey is less predictable and so it can fluctuate from day to day and this adds to the stress Page: 124 that they face. And fourth, the occasional train disruption can wreck their plans for the day. Therefore, in speaking about our long- and short-term plans, I hope to address and improve on these areas. By 2030, workers – foreign or local – permitting, we will double the current length of our rail network to about 360 km.”
“Page: 23 On subsidies for Polytechnic students and other groups – I hear his call, as, indeed, from Er Dr Lee Bee Wah. As I said when I first came in in 2011, these were all on my radar screen but I was more sympathetic to additional concessions for the elderly. That was my first priority and, in the 2011 fare adjustment, we did manage to do something to that and extend their concessions to the entire day. If and when a fare adjustment takes place or is to be decided − because there really is not even a new formula on the table yet and we will have to go through the process of talking about it when the formula is eventually reviewed – certainly Members can be sure that this and a few other areas, including for the disabled, are very much on my radar horizon as well.”
“Mdm Speaker, I add my thanks to Mr Christopher de Souza for not only his expression of support but, more importantly, some very, very good questions that he has asked in this supplementary. Firstly, I gave the FRMC quite a clean slate. Not only do they deliver a new formula but they are also going to take into consideration quite a number of different other areas. Ultimately, when there is a fare adjustment, it is actually the PTC – the Public Transport Council – that decides on the amount and whether to follow the fare formula rigidly or whether to deviate from the fare formula. If we look at our recent examples from 2006, certainly the PTC has deviated from the fare formula because the accumulative adjustment was 0.3% over those five years. I believe the fare formula would have recommended a lot more. Certainly, there was a year when the fare formula recommended an increase and PTC decided to reduce fares instead. So, the PTC looks at the fare formula and the prevailing situation and makes a decision on what fare adjustment to allow. So, there is that flexibility there. The Member's point on whether there is too much of a focus on profits is a very valid concern. And I think it is, therefore, the responsibility of the regulator to make sure that if this is so, we re-orientate the company. I make sure that I have regular meetings with the Chairman and the senior management. I make known my expectations of how I expect public transport service to be provided and the quality and reliability that I expect to see. From time to time, we will have to sit down and talk to them about operational matters and also to make sure that, if necessary, we properly align for the long term.”
“These are all options to be looked at and, indeed, it is not as if we are prepared only to stay with one model but we are always on a look-out for other possibilities, other alternatives, and it is on an on-going basis. Therefore, if there are interested entities like NTUC who may perhaps offer to run part of the bus system – I have talked about bus contestability in the years to come – this is certainly something that we would be prepared to look at very, very carefully.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me thank Ms Mary Liew for asking a question on what is probably the most important resource. Indeed, if we do not have enough drivers, the bus fleet will not be operational. That is, indeed, something that is very, very important. We do not dictate or prescribe how much the operators have to pay to their drivers. Certainly, this is something that, as commercial entities, they have to look very carefully at to make sure that they not only recruit enough but also Page: 21 retain enough of their drivers. What we do is we hold them to account as to the service that they deliver to the general public, particularly for the buses which are much, much more dependent on manpower. Indeed, it is not just people at the frontline but also at the backend doing the maintenance, doing the technical support. That, too, is very, very important. As Members know, there was a salary adjustment last year and we hope to do more in the years to come. Certainly, that alone is probably not sufficient. If we are to push ahead and accelerate the bus enhancement programme that I talked about, then being able to recruit and retain enough drivers, that ultimately determines how quickly I can push that programme out.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me thank Mr Giam for his question. As I mentioned earlier when I cited the ROTA figures for SMRT and SBST, we take into account also the advertising and the retail revenues that are generated because these are related businesses. When I provided the figures, I think it was 7.6% and 4.9% but that includes it. The ROTA figure is certainly a figure that the PTC looks at when they decide on any possible fare increase.”
“The question is whether we should do more, how much more, and how that ought to be funded by other transport users, or it ought to be something that is borne by the Government. And that something is obviously something that can be discussed and debated further. The third is a very good question because really we want to make sure that the operators pay enough attention not just only to the immediate maintenance problems but also making sure that they do a sufficient amount for the long-term sustainability of the transport system. So, when we look at what they do Page: 20 and we ask for their plans, we also look at whether they are planning for upgrades, mid-life upgrades, end-of-life upgrades to the trains and so on. Infrastructure, for example, now the third rail, the claws, that is something that we are also paying much more attention to than in the past. In the past, it used to be that we hold them accountable to the OPS performance standards. Now, we not only do that and have tightened that, but we also go down more to look at their processes and their maintenance plans.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me thank Dr Lily Neo for her three supplementary questions. On whether we consider public transport an essential service, certainly we do. The question is whether we should move away from the profit-oriented model. I think the difficulty really is whether we can move to something that is as efficient and as cost-conscious as what it is today. I think that is, indeed, the challenge. When we look at what other cities have done – those that are operating nationalised models, we find actually that – at least in the examples I have given you – the fares are higher and, on top of that, there are subsidies that are provided by the government. It is quite a heavy burden on the state and, ultimately, on the taxpayers. The question we have to ask ourselves is that if I can find something that is alternate to what we have today, that can run just as efficiently or even better, I would really like to consider that. What we have seen in a number of cities actually is that they have moved away from a nationalised model to a privatised model. In some cities, like those in Australia, when they run bus services, part of which is provided by a nationalised entity and part of which they have privatised, they have told us that actually there is a benefit, a more efficient way and, hence, lower cost when the private companies take over the running of such services. On targeted subventions, the Member has raised a good point. Indeed, today, there are concessions that we provide to the elderly so they have a full-day concession for travel on the transport system. There are some concessions given to students and so on.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me thank the Member for her usual penetrating questions. First, on profitability, in the past, they looked at ROTA and used that as a gauge. Therefore, indeed, there were years when, for example, they would give a fare increase to the buses but not to the rail. This was before we had distance fares. The actual mechanics going forward – this is something that we can ask the Fare Review Mechanism Committee (FRMC), chaired by Mr Richard Magnus, to take a closer look at. Indeed, they are doing so on concessions for the different groups, including students, Polytechnics as well as others. On the Member's third question, which is how much SMRT has to pay for the assets, let me read carefully what I said here. I said that SMRT will need to invest in more trains for the North-South East-West Lines, the Circle Line and the Bukit Panjang LRT. They will also have to pay for the re-signalling project for the North-South East-West Lines. That amount is about $750 million. So, that is the first component that the Member asked about. The second component is that they will have to buy over from the Government the first set of operating assets of the Circle Line in 2019. That is the second component. They buy over at Net Book Value because there is a certain depreciation of those assets from when it was purchased initially and, operated over the years, there is a certain depreciation. Our estimate is that come 2019, they will have to pay about $1 billion to buy over those assets. So, these two components that I mentioned earlier in the reply in response to your supplementary question will be about $1.75 billion.”
“The second question is: since we are in the process of reviewing the formula, can we take into consideration the concession rates for Polytechnic students as well? And the third question: Minister mentioned just now that SMRT needs to buy over the assets from the Government. How much does SMRT need to pay to buy over assets from the Page: 18 Government?”
“Madam, let me thank the Member for his two supplementary questions. On fines, first, the fines are put into the Public Transport Fund and that is used to issue vouchers that we provide to the more needy residents. Secondly, when the Public Transport Council looks at fare increases, they take into account what the fare formula recommends, as well as what the financial performance of the operators are, for example, looking at the ROTA and the trend of the ROTA. There is no component in the fare formula that looks at the fines that they have paid to the regulator. So, that is not taken into consideration in any fare increase. The situation that the Member mentioned, where PTOs pay more attention than they ought to their commercial operations, is something that we must safeguard ourselves against. Hence, not only must we set very high performance standards and hold them to account for this, fine them when necessary, but LTA is also now more closely involved in their processes – operations, as well as in maintenance, to make sure that throughout the organisation from the top down, they pay sufficient attention to these areas which are of greatest concern to us. Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: I have three supplementary questions. Of course, we should not deny PTOs from making profits. But if we were to look at the Annual Reports of the PTOs, the dividends given out to shareholders have been increasing every year for the last 10 years. I would like to ask the Minister: since we are in the process of reviewing the formula used by PTC, can the profitability of the PTOs be included in the formula? That means, if they make a certain profit or give out a certain amount of dividend beyond a certain figure, there should not be any increase in the fare at all.”
“I wanted to show a table, in Slide 2 [Please see Annex 2] on how our fare increases compared with the similar cities that I mentioned earlier. When we put together the comparison, we noticed that our fare increases over the last few years have been lower, compared to cities like Hong Kong, London and New York. As I mentioned earlier, our fares today are generally comparable, and, in many instances, they are actually lower. The bottom line is this: the Government is fully committed to keeping public transport fares affordable. Indeed, we want to carefully study this issue in greater detail for different income levels and various special groups that may be more vulnerable and may require special help should fares have to be raised in future. This, certainly, will be a priority for us moving forward.”
“This has caused a significant shortfall between fare increases and operating cost increases, and put downward pressure on wages for public transport employees. While the PTOs have increased bus driver salaries recently, against the backdrop of worsening bus industry financials, I expect that going forward, it will be a challenge for the PTOs to do more without fare increases or some form of Government subsidy. On whether bus and train driver salaries should be included as an explicit component in the fare formula, this is an issue for the Fare Review Mechanism Committee, chaired by Mr Richard Magnus, to consider. I know that the FRMC is very focused on making sure that whatever fare formula is proposed, there is assurance that we safeguard commuter interest in affordable public transport fares. Mdm Speaker, may I request the Clerk to now distribute the next handout?”
“This helps to safeguard commuter interest through requiring the PTOs to invest sufficiently to meet these standards. For example, when LTA completes its regulatory review in a few months' time to further tighten rail service standards, the PTOs will need to invest more to deliver the higher levels of service and reliability required of them. However, beyond just imposing the more stringent regulatory standards and heftier fines, LTA is taking a deeper look at the engineering and maintenance systems and processes that rail operators have put in place. This is an added safeguard following the Committee of Inquiry's report. Let me assure Mr Baey that we are mindful of the concern that he has raised, that the rail operator might get distracted from its primary mission, or for that matter, simply focus on short-term profitability while scrimping on maintenance. I will now turn to the queries by Ms Mary Liew and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah on transport fare hikes over the past years, whether public transport employees have benefited from the fare increases, and if bus and train driver salaries should form part of the fare formula going forward. Public transport fares have been adjusted in small amounts seven times over the last 10 years from 2003 to 2012. That is the period that I am looking at Page: 16 – seven times over the past 10 years by the Public Transport Council (PTC). There was also an occasion in 2009 where the PTC reduced fares because of adverse economic conditions despite the fare formula yielding a fare increase. From 2006 to 2011, fares increased cumulatively by 0.3%. Diesel prices for that same period went up by about 55% and national wages by over 25% for this same period from 2006 to 2011.”
“9% respectively, which are generally in a range we see for some other PTOs. Here, I wish to add that, actually, the profits from related non-fare revenue like advertising, rental and so on are included in the ROTA figures. I want to add also that, even for the ROTA, there are limitations in its utility. First, the lumpy nature of investments needed for public transport, particularly for rail, means that we should avoid being overly-seized with the ROTA on a year-to-year basis. Secondly, the ROTA, as currently determined for the PTOs, Page: 15 does not include those assets which they are already using to generate revenue but have yet to buy over from the Government. For instance, under the current financing arrangements, SMRT will need to invest in more trains for the North-South East-West Line (NSEWL), the Circle Line (CCL) and the Bukit Panjang LRT. SMRT also has to pay for the re-signalling project for the NSEWL. These are all major investments to which SMRT has either committed or are in the midst of implementing. In addition, under the CCL licence, SMRT would have to buy over from the Government the first set of operating assets in 2019. That said, we are mindful that the PTOs should not be earning excessive profits at the expense of commuters. Our public transport system is based on a balance of responsibilities between commuters, PTOs and the Government, in order to achieve quality service, affordable fares and a viable and sustainable system. The key to achieving this balance is to have a robust regulatory framework. Our regulatory framework requires the PTOs to comply with prescribed service standards and maintenance requirements, failing which, penalties will be imposed.”
“In response to questions by Dr Lily Neo and Mr Baey Yam Keng, whatever we do to our public transport model, it must try to provide for cost efficiency and financial discipline, and having the PTOs that are commercial entities with a profit-orientation to run the day-to-day operations helps us achieve this. As for the public good considerations for the public transport system, this is the responsibility of the Government, in how we plan and invest public monies to build up a comprehensive and high-quality public transport infrastructure, as well as to keep fares affordable. Mr Gerald Giam asked whether the Government considers the Return on Equity (ROE) of the PTOs to be reasonable. Let me first say that the ROE is not the most appropriate financial metric to assess the level of profitability for PTOs. The ROE is actually a measure at the corporate level. It covers all of the company's businesses, including businesses which may not be related at all to their rail and bus operations, and their overseas businesses. More fundamentally, the ROE is also a function of a company's financial arrangements and capital structure. Hence, it does not always correlate closely to profitability at the operating level of a PTO's public bus and rail businesses, and these are the areas of which we are concerned. It would not be an appropriate measure to compare bus and rail profitability across different PTOs. For asset-heavy companies, such as PTOs, a more common measure of profitability is the Return on Total Assets (ROTA), which assesses the level of profits the company generates for every dollar of assets invested. This metric was also recommended by the 2005 Fare Review Mechanism Committee. SMRT and SBST's current ROTA for their public transport businesses are about 7.6% and 4.”
“Madam, various Members have raised questions on the profitability of our public transport operators, public transport fare revision, and our public transport model. Our public transport operators (PTOs) are profit-oriented entities and they are, on an overall basis, profitable. Unlike many of the nationalised systems, like for example, the London Underground or New York Metro, our PTOs are incentivised to keep costs down, to improve productivity, and also develop new revenue sources, such as rental and advertising, so that they remain financially viable. If we restrict the ability of the PTOs to make profits, there will be less incentive for them to do all this. Ultimately, the concern is that this will lead to higher fares or larger Government subsidies, both of which are not to the benefit of Singaporeans. Mdm Speaker, with your permission, I would like to request the Clerk of Parliament to give a handout to Members because we have put together a couple of tables to show the data of comparative studies on both bus and rail Page: 14 operations in Singapore to be among the most cost-efficient compared to other major cities, and that commuters in Singapore pay fares that are among the lowest, as Members see in Slide 1. [Copies of the handout were distributed to hon Members. Please see Annex 1.] These include cities which provide huge operating subsidies to run their public transport system. So, we have done a comparison with Hong Kong, London, New York as well as with Tokyo.”
“Mdm Speaker, with your approval, I would like to take Question Nos 6 to 10 together.”
“There are currently 446 Singaporeans serving on board Singapore-registered ships and another 1,159 Singaporeans crewing harbour craft vessels.”
“Under the Walk2Ride programme, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will significantly expand the coverage of our sheltered linkway networks over the next five years to connect schools, healthcare facilities, public amenities, offices and residential developments within a 400-metre radius of all MRT stations. Under the programme, Tanjong Rhu estate will be connected by sheltered linkways to Mountbatten MRT station along Mountbatten Road.”
“For the segment of the PIE towards Tuas between the BKE and the slip road exit to Dunearn Road, there were 32 accidents recorded in 2010, 29 in 2011 and 18 in 2012. The predominant causes of these accidents were drivers failing to have proper control and to keep a proper lookout. The speed limit at this stretch is 80km/h, lower than the 90km/h for other sections of the expressway. Additional safety measures, such as Curve Page: 137 Alignment Markers (CAMs) and broader lane markings, have been implemented to help motorists in negotiating the bend and slight downward slope at this stretch.”
“The proportions of all COE bids16, in the name of private individuals and commercial entities, in 2011 and the first 11 months of 2012 are tabulated below. Page: 163”
“Due to the on-going construction of Downtown Line 1 and the Marina Coastal Expressway, the roads between Marina Bay Financial Centre and the Marina Bay Station will have to be realigned several times. Page: 162 To improve the walking experience for commuters, LTA will be providing temporary sheltered pedestrian link-ways along these roads in tandem with the road realignment works. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) also has plans for an extensive underground pedestrian network (UPN) connecting the developments in Marina Bay to the nearby MRT stations, including Marina Bay Station. The UPN will be constructed progressively as the parcels of land around the stations are developed.”
“The Changi 2036 Steering Committee will also make a decision soon on the civilian use of Runway 3, which will further increase Changi Airport’s runway capacity.”
“Changi Airport has experienced a sharp increase in air traffic movements in recent years. In 2011, aircraft movements at Changi Airport exceeded 300,000 for the first time, a growth of 14.5% over the previous year. The significant increase in air traffic movements had led to delays in aircraft arrivals and departures. A Steering Committee comprising the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), the Changi Airport Group (CAG) and the airport community was established in early 2012 to develop measures to address the situation and raise Changi Airport’s air traffic capacity, without compromising safety. Several measures have been implemented. Changes were made to air traffic control procedures to improve the predictability of air traffic flows, which allows for a higher traffic throughput. Measures were taken to increase runway availability. These include reducing the duration of runway closures for inspections and maintenance through the use of more resources and technology. CAAS and CAG are also working with the airlines to reduce the time spent by aircraft on the runway after landing. These capacity enhancement measures have yielded positive results. The on-time performance at Changi Airport has improved despite continued growth in air traffic in 2012. In the second half of 2012, the percentage of delay in aircraft departure declined by about 50% year-on-year, even as aircraft movements Page: 145 grew by more than 5% during the same period. Going forward, Changi Airport has capacity for continued growth. A recent study has concluded that Changi Airport will be able to raise its two-runway capacity by about 40% through further enhancements to air traffic control procedures and additional runway availability measures.”
“LTA’s island-wide MRT noise measurement study, which was completed in May 2012, identified a number of locations that experience noise levels exceeding NEA’s guidelines. In particular, noise levels in areas located near turnout sections of rail viaducts, tend to be much higher. While the study was going on, LTA proceeded with a trial to test the effectiveness of noise barriers in reducing passing train noise. The trial, which was carried out at the Jurong East Modification Project (JEMP) and Bishan, found that noise barriers were effective in reducing the noise level by around five decibels (dBA) averaged over an hour (Leq 1-hour). LTA subsequently awarded a contract in October 2012 to pilot noise barriers at Tampines, Jurong East and Toh Guan. These pilots will allow LTA to assess the most efficient design and installation method for the noise barriers. The findings from these studies and trials will enable LTA to develop appropriate plans to mitigate railway noise, and LTA will share the details in due course.”
“To enhance the overall accessibility of our public transport network for diverse groups of commuters, including the elderly and families with young children, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) embarked on an initial programme to install lifts at Pedestrian Overhead Bridges (POBs) in 2012. Existing POBs next to six MRT stations, namely Aljunied, Bishan, Khatib, Kranji, Sengkang and Yew Tee, were selected for lift retrofitting works due to their relatively high usage levels and absence of a nearby barrier-free alternative. LTA has been studying the provision of lifts to more POBs to better serve the needs of various user groups, including elderly residents in mature HDB estates, and, in principle, we have decided that it is timely for us to embark on a new programme for more POBs to be fitted with lifts. We will announce more details when these are finalised in the coming weeks. Page: 143”
“The Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) targets to reduce crowding, shorten waiting times and improve bus network connectivity. To deliver these improvements to commuters sooner, we have front-loaded the implementation to inject about 70% of the buses or around 550 buses by end-2014. Since the launch of the BSEP in September last year, the bus operators have added 780 weekly bus trips to 54 bus services or 20% of the bus network. We have also launched five new BSEP routes and are on track to roll out at least another five more within the first year of BSEP implementation. By the end of the first year of BSEP implementation, we would also have added around 250 new buses, increasing the bus fleet by about 6%, well above the bus ridership growth rate of about 3% over the last few years. To evaluate the requests for improved bus services across the community, LTA has taken a balanced approach, and works with community leaders to assess needs and carefully distribute the available resources to achieve maximum benefit. Priority is given to improving service levels on existing services where enhancements are clearly needed, and to roll out new bus routes to meet new developments and help reduce MRT crowding. A key priority would be for the operators to look into improving the employment terms and conditions so as to be able to recruit and retain bus drivers, as that would be the critical resource to enable us to ramp up bus services in the next few years.”
“Taxi Availability (TA) standards were developed in close consultation with stakeholders to ensure that they are realistic and achievable, and would, over time, result in discernible improvements for taxi commuters. LTA can play a role to facilitate the meeting of these standards, for example, in helping match taxi hirers and relief drivers. However, as the standards are imposed on taxi operators, we should leave it to the operators to decide if incentives for their drivers are needed. To allow taxi operators to adjust to the TA framework, there will be no financial penalties imposed for failure to meet the TA standards during the initial six months of implementation. LTA will review this after the six-month period. We understand Mr Ang's concern, and should we decide to impose penalties, I would urge operators to consider very carefully simply passing the buck to their drivers. In this regard, I was happy to note Comfort Delgro earlier assuring that it would work hand in hand with its drivers to meet the standards, and provide them with all the support needed, and would not just push the responsibility to them. Taxi operators should be conscious that if they impose unreasonable or uncompetitive demands or terms on their hirers, they may find their drivers approaching the various other taxi companies in Singapore to hire their taxis.”
“There are currently no plans to review the COE system for goods vehicles and buses. There are already several concessions given to businesses to manage their transport costs. Businesses bid for Category C COEs to register goods vehicles and buses and do not have to compete with private car buyers in Categories A and B. In addition, business owners enjoy significantly lower vehicle taxes. The Additional Registration Fee (ARF) for all types of goods vehicles (except goods-cum-passenger vehicles7) is set at 5% of the vehicle’s Open Market Value (OMV), instead of the 100% OMV applicable for cars. Beyond that, the Government offers various schemes on which SMEs can tap, for growth, capability development and productivity initiatives. As part of the annual budget exercise, the Government will also carefully consider the needs of the SME community, to determine if more help is needed and the appropriate means to do so.”
“Under the National Cycling Plan, more than 50km of dedicated off-road cycling paths will be provided at seven HDB towns2 by 2014. Cycling infrastructure is also being built in the Marina Bay area, new housing estates, as well as during major estate upgrading programmes under the Remaking our Heartland (ROH) initiative by HDB. Where feasible, these cycling paths will be linked to the Park Connector Network. More bicycle parking spaces at major transport nodes are also being added progressively. LTA will be adding 900 more bicycle racks at 10 more MRT stations by 2Q2013, in addition to the 1,500 additional bicycle racks already installed. These bicycle racks are designed to allow cyclists to lock their bicycles more securely. They are also well-lit for added security. Page: 1432 To enhance our pedestrian network and for the convenience of public transport commuters, LTA had embarked on a $74 million programme to build covered link-ways linking transport nodes, such as train stations, bus interchanges, bus stops, taxi and passenger pick-up points, to key amenities like schools and health institutions. With this programme largely completed, LTA will review whether to extend the programme.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Indeed, it is a very important point that we provide more options for commuters in the last mile, whether it is through a bus feeder, whether it is cycling, or, for those who are physically mobile, to walk that last distance. Today, the sheltered linkways and connectivity are for 200 metres around the stations or key transport nodes. Going forward, we intend to extend this further and we would want to do so to provide more convenience to commuters who would prefer to walk to the station rather than to have to take a feeder bus or to cycle. Page: 1337”
“We will certainly be happy to do so. I want to express my appreciation to the Member, as well as to the other advisors in the area, for the amount of support and cooperation that they have already given to LTA in making sure that the work stays relatively on schedule and we appreciate very much the cooperation from the residents as well.”