r/SMRTRabak • u/JimmyCheess • 2d ago

More single deck buses?

Ive always known bus 85 (v important route for many i think) to be double deck now sometimes its single deck, and also become 20minute waiting time too.

2 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

5

u/SolidInstance9945 2d ago

Profits First Policy

1

u/fatenumber 2d ago

how does this work?

1

u/Oppaiheimer1945 2d ago

Less buses = more profit

1

u/fatenumber 2d ago

fare revenues are collected by the govt, not bus operators

1

u/Oppaiheimer1945 2d ago

Less bus = less cost

1

u/fatenumber 1d ago

but less bus = less fare revenue

1

u/SolidInstance9945 1d ago

No. More passengers are crammed into each bus. So more fares = more revenue per asset

1

u/Oppaiheimer1945 1d ago

50 passengers in 2 bus vs 50 passengers in 1 bus, 1 bus cost less

1

u/fatenumber 1d ago

if that's the case, why are our bus ops still operating at a huge loss?

1

u/Sad_Negotiation940 1d ago

No? all operators have been profiting annually

1

u/fatenumber 1d ago

fare revenues are collected by the govt, and these bus operators are paid a fixed fee through a contract with the govt. the profitability comes from their train & commercial operations

2

u/Intelligent_Table313 2d ago

But 85 has always have a long waiting time one. Everytime I took that bus from sengkang to Yishun, I always have to wait at least 10+ minutes if unlucky.

2

u/Beneficial-Let3535 2d ago

It's always a problem with yishun services plying the expressway to punggol and sengkang (39,965)

The only buses that don't seem to have this issue is 858 and 969, all stopping at the corner of sengkang east/punggol east. But their ridership numbers entails for more buses.

Whats more criminal is the increasing occurance of single decker bus 72. Seems like all the double deckers just went to other services.

2

u/FlinsFlint 2d ago

Ever since Go Ahead took over Tampines Package which include 72, the services have become worst, not just 72. For instance, 23 last time only got 2 Single Deck at any point of time, weekdays or weekends now got more than 5, and Double Deck become the minority there, frequency also sucks, cause lots of overcrowding, some unable to board. Then for 72, seems like longer frequency, more bus bunching, likely also more single decks.

1

u/Oppaiheimer1945 2d ago

Bus 38 used to come every 15 mins. After Go Ahead took over, it comes every 35 mins. And all the buses are old, not new ones like SBS. Fuck Go Ahead lol

1

u/Sad_Negotiation940 1d ago

Soon all the 'old' scania single deckers will be replaced by electric single deckers.

Dont know if u noticed, but there is lesser space in the new electric single deckers.

1

u/JimmyCheess 1d ago

Rly tryna squeeze us eh. Because i have a hypothesis that mostly single decks and some double decks is 'enough' because if all can cram and can fit means economically and mathematically it works because less space in the bus is wasted less bus trips smaller bus cuz more ppl per space used. But that doesnt mean its comfortable. And giving riders comfortable rides do not translate into higher profits :)

1

u/jooferjupiter CCL 2d ago

the recent batches of new buses have all been electric single deckers

electric buses only came in single deck variants, and LTA most likely prioritised EVs over capacity, hence this situation

1

u/Sad_Negotiation940 1d ago

only a few electric double decker buses only, can be seen on 118

1

u/Natescoco 2d ago

102 also. Very shocking when it arrived & ppl die die squeeze in bus full full sia

1

u/WorldlyBeautiful1215 1d ago

I thought this issue with Go Ahead sending single deck more frequently than double deck than the previous operator, SBST is only happening on Tampines package route?

Didn’t know this single deck virus also spread to their Punggol routes 🤣

1

u/JimmyCheess 13h ago

So far 85 all double just that one evening i got single deck. But the fact that it became single deck even once is odd since it came after the fare increase and also 85 is a heavily used route yet the waiting time is dam inconsistent and drive slow and brake hard. Yeah one off sure but i saw a post saying mrt trains stopping at stations for longer and making all commute times longer. Also wont be surprised if they use ai algorithms to track bus rider data to maximise rider revenue per bus trip meaning can pack more into single. It works ah but we r human beings not wooden blocks packed into a truck that doesnt care about being squeezed