HANDICAP-FRIENDLY SMRT BUS INTERCHANGE

Photo: SMRT Facebook Page

SMRT arranged for a special familiarization tour of the Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange for its the wheelchair-bound and visually impaired Woodlands residents on Monday morning.

The tour allowed for the special group of patrons to acquaint themselves with facilities such as ramps, tactile paving, and priority queue zones at boarding areas, to help find their way before the temporary bus interchange is open to public.

Members of the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) and Handicaps Welfare Association, were accompanied  by Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC, Amrin Amin.

Photo: SMRT Facebook Page

“This morning, we boarded and alighted buses, tried handicapped toilets and went up the ramp. I found wheeling-up the ramp the hardest part.”

Mr Amrin had requested to make the visit to the temporary interchange on a wheelchair to understand the perils faced by the handicap residents.

“I am happy that we got round the temporary Woodlands Bus Interchange on our wheelchairs with ease,” he added on a Facebook post.

The temporary Woodlands Bus Interchange will be operate starting 12 March as the current Singapore bus interchange is to be refurbished.

SMRT to hire 1,200 more personnel to improve public transport services

Photo: Mark Cheong for ST

SMRT is looking to introduce more structured career paths and better remuneration for bus captains and engineers, alongside enhanced human resource initiatives by the company to expand staff strength and upgrade them. 

Photo: Joyce Fang for ST

In the train services, SMRT plans to increase staff strength by 700, an increase of some 15 per cent. In bus services, it is to increase staff ranks by 500, or 20 per cent, the bulk of them bus drivers. In doing so, SMRT wants to put more buses on the roads, therefore reducing commuter waiting time.

SMRT has been facing with intense competition to hire bus captains, with the entrance of Go-Ahead and Tower Transit, new operators under the government contracting model. To remain competitive, SMRT is considering tweaking the pay structure for its bus captains.

SMRT’s Vice President for Human Resources, Mr Gerard Koh said: “We are watching to see whether our current structure will attract a fair number of bus captains." He added that SMRT may possibly introduce enhanced health and fitness benefits, and receive up to S$3,000 under a staff referral scheme and sign-on bonus, on top of the current basic salary of $1,625. Senior drivers can expect two to three more days of annual leave, all drivers, enhanced medical care with plans to build an in-house clinic at one of the bus depots.

SMRT is also beefing up training, with the signing a memorandum of understanding with the University of Birmingham that will see jointly conducted courses at the SMRT Institutes.

“Ultimately, the hope is to drive better services for the customers,” said SMRT Vice President for Human Resources, Mr Gerard Koh.

While SMRT is in discussion with National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU) on the final details, it expects to start rolling out its personnel schemes from April 2016.