I always wonder why LTA never used the data collected from the Ezlink to determine the load of the buses. Yes, it may not be an accurate depiction of the load of the bus as some may not pay through ezlink but judging from what I've observed so far, it's a mighty good guess of the number of people that's on the bus.
I may not know the details of how Ezlink works but based on my background in IT, audit is very important in any financial transactions. Therefore, the amount deducted from which particular bus and location are audit logs that will be collected in the event of any dispute. Using this information, you can determine the number of people on the bus at any one time since they are suppose to tap out when they alight from the bus.
Using this data, you can actually further determine where are the bottlenecks in the bus route and if the bus is leaving on time from the bus terminal. This information is quite useful in determining if a particular route is over-congested or over-utilised at any time of the day. The data tracked from Ezlink will not lie and will validate all this "noise" that we've been highlighting all this time.
Personally, I still think that they should follow what Hong Kong is doing. All the major bus routes are serviced by double decker buses and only the lightly traveled ones are serviced by single deck small buses, unlike here. Oh well... Different definition of first class I guess.
6 comments:
Contrary to what was claimed, analysis is carried out using ezlink data. Since you have an IT background, you might be aware of Project PLANET (http://www.cio-asia.com/mgmt/project-mgmt/creating-a-planet/?page=1) among others. Of course, we can then ask why overcrowding still happens? There is this inherent daily variability in all transport systems (not just here but all around the world), in passenger load and road conditions. There are probably just not enough buses to offer a supply buffer. Or to be precise, not enough bus drivers. Perhaps time to raise pay to attract more locals to drive buses (and a fare increase....ouch!)
Thanks for the link. I actually missed out the news on PLANET so I didn't know that LTA is analysing the travel patterns.
So does that mean the red bus lane is the result of PLANET?
Not sure but I believe the red bus lane (whole day bus lane) came first, some years ago. The data can be used for many other useful purposes, eg scheduling buses, assessing if larger capacity buses are needed. I like to believe that the service improvements announced every quarter (eg add x buses to service y) are partly based on such data.
Personally I feel that they should be proactive in determining capacity instead of using the PLANET statistics which looks more reactive.
For example I like the way that by default in Hong Kong, all buses on major routes are double deckers so that people are at least more assured of getting onto the bus. I could never fathom why single decker buses are deployed on routes that are known to be very busy during certain times.
Agree that double decks carry more but they are much slower to board and discharge passengers due to bottleneck at the space beside stairs and exit door. So they incur more dwell time at bus stops, which affect overall line capacity. Also cannot be used along routes with height restrictions. So not so straightforward. But personally I do prefer them because there is greater chance of getting a seat and enjoy the streetscape at a higher vantage.
I do not agree that they are slower to board though because the single deck bus will still be stuck due to the large number of people trying to board the bus. Moreover, the bus routes I've seen so far have double decker buses, but they are rare.
I like double decker buses because even if they are late, they are capable of carrying more capacity that would have built up over the delay, compared to a single decker bus which will most probably be fulled to the brim. I also pity the person in the middle trying to get out.
Post a Comment