HAN YAN CHOU, DON

Summary

During my WOW experience, I was able to get a further insight on how the public transport system works in Singapore. I was attached to the Public Transport Quality (PTQ) department at the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Singapore, and we were given an introduction to how the quality of public transport, in particular buses, are maintained in Singapore.

It was a very enriching experience as we got to learn many things that were not exposed to us previously, learning techniques regarding bus and timetable scheduling and the methods of ensuring public transport quality. We got to witness many things happening behind-the-scenes in the office, which was an eye-opening experience, as it also involves bus services which we are familiar with.

Our mentor was Mr Jeremy Wang, an assistant manager in the Public Transport Quality department. He led us throughout the project and provided us with many valuable feedback and learnings along the way, making our experience a more fulfilled one. We were assigned to the LTA Sin Ming Office throughout the one-month long attachment, seated in the Public Transport Quality department.

The Land Transport Authority office located in Sin Ming, with the office tables structured in a similar manner as the picture shown below

Tasks

Before we started on our project, we thought about two possible issues that could surface after the opening of the Thomson-East Coast Line.

Route Duplication

The first problem we anticipate is route duplication along East Coast Road and Marine Parade Road, with the Thomson-East Coast Line running parallel to both roads. Hence, we opted to take a look at the routes of the services that ply these roads to forecast their effectiveness once the Thomson-East Coast Line opens for service, therefore finding a way to optimize resources.

Lack of Connectivity

Furthermore, the second problem we anticipate is the lack of connectivity between housing estates and the Thomson-East Coast Line. We have noted that many services pass by housing estates near the TEL but do not actually connect residents to the stations themselves. Having a bus service that directly brings people to a Thomson-East Coast Line MRT Station may incentivize them to take the train instead of the bus.

Brainstorming on which services to select for route amendments and frequency changes allowed us to stand from multiple perspectives to view the issue, taking into account many different factors and the community’s needs.

We were able to request for data which would be extremely useful for our project. The data allowed us to analyze commuters’ trip patterns and gain insights from them, allowing for better judgement of the various bus services by looking into the capacity utilization and the analysis of commuters’ trip patterns.

Seen in the screenshot of the map is the stretch of the Thomson-East Coast Line which we were concentrating on during our project. Coincidentally, it is also the stretch of stations which are near TJC

Travelling time to the Central Business District will be greatly reduced after the opening of the Thomson-East Coast Line. Previously, commuters had to take the bus into the city, which takes up a lot more time as compared to taking the train

Deliverables

In the project, I chose to study Service 32 as it is a service which runs parallel to the Thomson-East Coast Line along Mounbatten Road, but does not provide a direct connection for commuters in the Frankel and East Coast regions towards the Thomson-East Coast Line. I was then tasked to figure out a solution for the issue I had come up with.

Hence, to increase connectivity to the Thomson-East Coast Line, I proposed the implementation of a new variant service of Service 32 — Service 32M.

Service 32M will mirror Service 32’s route from Bedok Interchange as it will be a supplementary service. However, it will make a turn onto Marine Parade Rd, connecting passengers to Parkway Parade and Marine Parade MRT before following the initial route of Service 32 back to Bedok Bus Interchange.

With Service 32M, there would be increased connectivity between the Frankel residential area, East Coast region and the Thomson-East Coast Line, allowing Frankel residents to be connected to Marine Parade, where they can either transfer to the train or do some shopping at Parkway Parade. It would also help to divert workers who take the express services along East Coast Road during the morning peak hours to the MRT.

With the proposed introduction of Service 32M, we also made changes to the frequency of Service 32 to ensure that resources are used wisely.

My fellow group mates also had other proposals regarding frequency changes to other services.

We presented our respective proposals to the bosses in LTA, hoping that our proposals could be integrated into future plans.

Poor connectivity to the Thomson-East Coast Line on Service 32

Proposed route of Service 32M

A picture taken after our presentation

Content Knowledge Learnt

Through the attachment, I have learnt more about timetable scheduling after attending a fruitful sharing session with the experienced Mr Poon Chew Yong, who was the former head of scheduling at SBS Transit Ltd. Although technology has evolved and timetable scheduling can be slightly more automated, a reason why scheduling is not completely automated yet is due to duty/crew scheduling, having to take into account meal breaks and ample break time between trips. The LTA is in charge of bus scheduling, while the respective operators will take care of the duty scheduling. It was a more complicated job than what I expected initially.

During my time at the LTA, I learnt how to analyze various data in forms such as graphical dashboard, origin-destination and trip-level. All these forms of data were novel to me as I had not seen them before. Although it was quite a challenge to interpret them initially, I had gotten used to such forms of data over the month that it became a relatively easier job.

I have also learnt the importance of being precise and concise. In work, there is a huge chance of dealing with a whole bunch of data but to find the exact data you want, precision is definitely needed as the analysis of “big data” would be too much work and a hassle.

Interesting Aspects of Learning

This experience allowed me to gain a deeper insight into how things work behind-the-scenes for buses in Singapore. To ensure the optimization of bus resources, there is a team which observes the trip patterns for all the bus services to see whether a change is needed. Behind the reliable bus services we see running the roads daily, there are loads of work being done which was an eye-opening experience.

Work is drastically different from school — from working time to the scale of projects. In schools, students have different dismissal times on certain days, but for work, the working hours are set and it gradually becomes a routine that people will get used to. At the start of our attachment, we were not used to the long working hours and jostling with the peak-hour crowd, but we soon got used to it. In addition, work projects force us to think critically as there are no correct answers unlike several school projects, and they are done on a larger scale, potentially affecting fellow Singaporeans. Therefore, we had to pay attention to a lot more details in everything we do, with empathy being an important trait especially in an organization like LTA where the projects directly impact residents in Singapore.

A picture of our attachment group and our mentor, Mr Jeremy Wang, and a colleague in the office.

TakeAway for Life

Through this fulfilling experience, I think that it would be pivotal for one to be passionate in his or her job to truly enjoy their work. I believe that for a person to be driven towards success, one must be passionate about their work because it incentivizes us to work harder while also enjoying what we are doing. The work in LTA is not easy by any means, but after being there for a month, I realized that if you have a passion in your work, going to work could be something enjoyable instead of feeling dreadful about it.

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