What am I Waiting For?

To be frank, I really hate going home via Boon Lay Interchange on weekday evenings. Besides the overcrowding problem, which gets worse everyday unless and until the two new MRT extension stations at Joo Koon and Pioneer are commissioned, the bus service is really terrible.

It is a common sight to see meandering queues extending from the bus bays all the way into the MRT station, sprouting a proud 100+ people waiting for the same bus to appear. (The numbers are reliable, I count them every time I feel frustrated; so that I will have figures to quote SBS when I lodge a complaint). Imagine 120 people waiting for a single bus service, which means you probably need 3 bus stops full of people if those people are waiting at a bus stop along a typical road. Some queues are worse, I estimate a minimum of 150 commuters during peak hours. And I happen to be taking the bus which has one of the longest and slowest moving queues.

You can wait for as much as 20min to board a bus 242 at Boon Lay bus interchange. This is ridiculous, as the actual bus journey is 15min. That means you will spend more than half an hour to travel a max of 3km. I think I can run faster than that speed.

Until 4 months ago, I started to take bus from this interchange, again after I switched job. To think that the problem which existed since my University days is still not resolved, after 5 long years. That is the real issue with monopoly of the market, and service providers will not bother to improve or review their quality of service, until someone complains. And I am going to quit waiting and do just that.