The Tale of two bus stops based on Today on 11 March 2006

POTONG Pasir residents are somewhat used to getting double of everything — with their incumbent Member of Parliament Chiam See Tong and his People's Action Party challenger, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, both serving their needs.

But two bus stops within 3m of each other in front of their block is probably not what the residents of Block 120, Potong Pasir Avenue 1 would have expected.

Last December, the Potong Pasir Town Council built a drop-off bay to cater to the 5,000 students of St Andrew's Village.

Mr Chiam had hoped that when bus service number 142 was extended into the vicinity, the drop-off bay that his Town Council had spent $60,000 on could be used as a public bus stop.

But the Land Transport Authority (LTA) rejected Mr Chiam's proposal. It built a new bus stop, running parallel to the drop-off bay, this month.

Now, Mr Chiam wants the LTA to tear down the bus stop and convert the drop-off bay into a bus stop, citing his concern for the school children's safety. He said: "The two lanes are narrow. The buses would create a huge blind spot. Moreover, many vehicles come out of the car park, located before the bus bay, and zoom into these lanes. This would be so dangerous to the children who dash across the road."

An LTA spokesman told Today that the drop-off point was also used by shopowners to load and unload goods and said that, given the current usage of the drop-off point, "introducing a bus service ... will cause operational disruptions, inconvenience and confusion".

The LTA also said that the bay is too narrow and that it was cheaper to build a new bus stop than to widen the existing bay as "extensive works" have to be carried out. The LTA spokesman further said that the road and traffic conditions made it unlikely for cars to travel quickly in that area, and thus it was unlikely the bus stop would pose a safety threat to students.

"We have also assured him that we will monitor the situation once the bus shelter is in operation to see what improvements need be made," the spokesman added.

On Wednesday, Mr Chiam had raised his concerns in Parliament. In response, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Manpower Hawazi Daipi said that the Ministry of Education takes students' safety very seriously and he would forward Mr Chiam's concern to the LTA again.

Mr Sekerchristopher, a 35-year-old resident, noted: "It's a nice idea actually to have both the bus stop and the drop-off bay. But it would be quite dangerous for the students. It's better to situate the bus stop at where the drop-off bay is."

Reported by
Loh Chee Kong
TODAY
cheekong@newstoday.com.sg


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