READ THIS! Is this true?
Is our dear Singapore coming up with another mind-boggling, thought-provoking, civil-minding campaign again?And this time it's the "FLAG THE BUS EARLY" campaign?
I read it on Mr Brown, but am too afraid to google it... for fear that it's true.
So, Singaporeans and the general public not flagging the bus early enough and that's causing the bus drivers to jam-break? And commuters miss the bus because they flag too late?
Um... well, maybe with BIGGER SIGNS it will help?
What if you flag 67 instead of 66?
Then the bus will stop, you won't board, the bus uncle gets angry, and he has to speed because he's late... And plus the fact that everyone will be flagging the bus down early because being the law-abiding Singaporeans, we will obey every rule?
So what happens if I can't see clearly? Gahmen say must flag early so I flag early loh!
And I'm also kiasu. So every bus I also must flag, EARLY! If not, kenna caught how? Police will come up to me and say: "Miss, you are going to be fined because you flagged the bus late."
Not only will I flag early, I will flag down every bus early.
Life is gonna be a joy-ride.
I wonder if the campaign designers really listen to public opinion. Or if any of the campaign designers ride the bus REGULARLY ever?
Does the fact that buses not stop for commuters and commuters missing the bus be the fault of commuters not flagging early? And is it the fault of late-flaggers that lead bus drivers to stop in a unruly manner?
I don't think so.
I live in Ithaca, NY and bus services here are anything but frequent. Buses run every half hour, or hour. And this is how the GOOD bus drivers work:
1. They stop at every designated stop, and wait for a few seconds before they leave, even when there are nobody boarding or alighting.
2. They slow down before reaching a stop, and they look around and check before they leave the stop.
3. They smile at you, and some even remembers your name.
I don't expect 3. from our already duty-laden drivers but the least they can do is 1. and 2. right?
If 1. and 2. is done, there won't need to be a "Flag the Bus Early" campaign... and Singapore won't be the laughing stock of the world again.
And I don't think flagging the bus down early is going to help if our policy is always geared towards making the consumers work harder. In this case, anyone with enough common sense can come to the conclusion that flagging the bus early is just another mask to cover the rudeness of some of our drivers.
These drivers should learn their lessons, and not by having a campaign that requires Singaporeans to do stupid things.
Like flagging the bus early.
As I was reading the report on Mr Brown, I notice a few things in the article that needs to be addressed before they launch the campaign. I think a little transparent public disclosure of information is needed before they take the tax-payers' money and come up with something useless.
The article mentioned that the authorities (whoever-they-may-be) have investigated that many commuters missed the bus because they often flagged too late.
1. Who did they investigate? Did they talk to commuters? How did they get the commuters? Or did they just sample bus drivers? Which route? Any particular problem spots?
2. How did they investigate? Under-cover observations? Interviews? Focus groups? How many people? How did they choose their participants? Were they given any incentives to participate? Were they sampled randomly or purposively? That detail is missing and I want to know! What if they just anyhow interview 1 or 2 drivers? That is investigation too but is it reliable?
3. Where did they investigate? Any field investigations done? Did they locate the bus stops having frequent problems of buses not stopping? Any observations done? Any comparison?
4. Who investigated? Student surveyors? Policy makers? Have they taken the bus before in their entire life? Bus inspectors? Any invested interest? We don't know!
Many other loopholes also emerge from the article.
The campaign was launched after receiving complaints that bus captains drove off from bus stops without picking up passengers.
How is this related to flagging down the bus early? Can there be other reasons such as the location of the bus stop is too far inside the pavement for one to see the bus approaching if one was to be seated?
Can this be linked to not flagging early?
If we look at what the article is tying to say, it looks something like this:
Not flagging early --> (causes) --> bus driving off without picking up passengers
Moderating factors were not taken into consideration. Not flagging early is an ACTION induced by a CIRCUMSTANCE.
We will flag early if we can but what if we can't see the numbers clearly?
Or the seat of the bus stop is in a location where I can't see a bus approaching. Go to the bus stop at Bt Timah outside HCJC and you'll know what I mean. The trees are covering most of the vision line from the bus seats that one literally have to stand at the edge of the road in order to see the buses approaching.
There are also other confounding factors or artifacts that can result in buses driving off without picking up passengers e.g. speeding drivers, drivers who don't look.
Please!
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Pissed
Sane reflects @ this location permanently
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