More than 9 in 10 commuters are satisfied; Satisfaction rating has gone up

1. More than 9 in 10 or 93.8% of respondents were satisfied with the overall public transport services in Singapore based on the Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey 2009, conducted in October last year by SIM University (UniSIM). This is up by about 4 percentage points from 89.5% in 2008. Overall satisfaction rating for public transport services also improved to 7.4 based on a 10-point scale (where 1 represents 'not satisfied' and 10 represents 'very satisfied'). This is slightly higher than the 7.1 registered in the 2008 survey.

Top three most important public transport service attributes

2. Of the 8 service attributes surveyed, respondents ranked safety/security, travel time and waiting time of public transport services in Singapore as the most important service attributes. Safety/security received the highest satisfaction rating of 7.8, followed by travel time and waiting time with satisfaction ratings of 7.3 and 6.5 respectively. In terms of the percentage of commuters satisfied, 91% were satisfied with the safety/security of our public transport services, 86% were satisfied with travel time and 68% were satisfied with waiting time. Compared to 2008, these three attributes received higher ratings and higher percentages of satisfied commuters.

3. Other attributes that fared well include the accessibility of public transport services (90% satisfied); comfort (86% satisfied); and service information (85% satisfied). Details can be found at Table 1 (Annex A).

Highlights of Survey Results

4. Generally, commuters were more satisfied with MRT services compared to bus services, with an overall satisfaction rating of 7.7 compared to 7.2 for buses. In terms of percentage of satisfied commuters, 96% were satisfied with our MRT services compared to 92.5% for bus services. This can be attributed to the fact that the MRT, with its dedicated tracks, is able to provide faster and more reliable services.

5. Nonetheless, for bus services, the percentage of satisfied commuters rose to 93% in 2009, from 87% in 2008. Rating for overall satisfaction also increased to 7.2 in 2009 from 6.9 in 2008. [Details can be found at Table 2 (Annex A)]. This can be attributed to the implementation of Land Transport Masterplan initiatives which included the expansion of the Mandatory Give Way to Buses Scheme in June 2009; and the new Quality of Service (QoS) standards introduced by the Public Transport Council in August 2009 which require bus operators to meet reduced bus headways (frequencies) of 10 minutes during peak periods (compared to 15 minutes previously) for 80% of basic bus services and 90% for feeder services (compared to 85% previously). More than 260 bus trips were added by the operators to meet this new standard.

6. For MRT services, the percentage of satisfied commuters increased slightly to 96% from 94% in 2008 and the rating for overall satisfaction also increased correspondingly to 7.7 from 7.5 in 2008. [Details can be found at Table 3 (Annex A).] These improvements could be attributed to the expansion of the rail network, with the opening of the Boon Lay MRT Extension in February 2009 and the opening of the Circle Line from Bartley to Marymount in May 2009, as well as service improvements such as the operators running more train trips and deploying more service ambassadors during peak hours.

7. "We are heartened by the results of this survey and are pleased that more commuters are satisfied with our public transport services. We will continue to work hard to improve public transport service levels especially in areas that are most important to commuters. This includes public transport reliability, efficiency and comfort levels, to make bus and train journeys better for/ commuters," said Mr Yam Ah Mee, Land Transport Authority (LTA) Chief Executive.

8. For more information on the Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey 2009, please refer to Annex A.

Moving forward

9. While the survey findings showed higher commuter satisfaction in all attributes, public transport waiting time continued to receive the lowest rating (6.5) and the lowest percentage of commuters satisfied (68%). Similarly, while the satisfaction level of crowdedness has improved, there is room for further improvement.

10. The opening of the Circle Line (CCL) from Bartley to Dhoby Ghaut, which comprises 11 stations - Tai Seng, MacPherson, Paya Lebar, Dakota, Mountbatten, Stadium, Nicoll Highway, Promenade, Esplanade, Bras Basah and Dhoby Ghaut - on 17 April 2010, will increase the connectivity of our MRT network and also add more capacity to our MRT system. About 10-15% of commuter trips currently made on existing lines along critical stretches are expected to be transferred to the CCL when it is fully opened next year. This will help to reduce crowding levels for a more comfortable ride.

11. Other upcoming rail projects that would improve crowdedness and waiting time include the Jurong East Modification Project (JEMP), which is expected to be completed in 2011. In the interim, LTA will continue to facilitate parallel bus services along busy MRT segments as well as study how to improve the attractiveness of such bus services so as to provide alternatives for commuters along these stretches.

12. To further improve the waiting time of bus services, LTA will work with the operators to see what more can be done to further increase frequencies in heavily-used bus services. We hope to make an announcement in the next few months. To improve travel times, LTA will extend the Mandatory Give-Way to Buses scheme from the current 44 to another 158 bus bays island-wide by end 2010. The scheme has proven to be effective in helping buses exit bus bays more quickly by up to 73% in some cases. LTA will also look at the possibility of giving buses signal priority at traffic junctions.