Transport Minister shares why new Marine Parade bus stop has pillars blocking view of oncoming buses
Another flawed bus stop design?
After a Redditor griped about the visibility problem at a new Marine Parade bus stop, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat has taken to Facebook to address the issue.
In a thread titled 'Bad visibility at Parkway Parade (opposite) bus stop' posted on July 3, the Redditor asked: "Which genius designed this? No one can see incoming buses thanks to the row of pillars obscuring the view."
A commenter pointed out: "What's even more confusing is that there are two bus stop bays under this single bus stop name/code. Some buses stop at the front one and some stop at the back one. People who are new to the area might be waiting at the wrong spot for their bus."
Someone commented: "Must be designed by someone who's never taken public transportation."
Three days later, Mr Chee posted on Facebook: "I understand the design of the bus stop opposite Parkway Parade Mall is causing some inconvenience to commuters.
"There are two issues: first, the pillars at the bus stop are making it more difficult to see approaching buses; second, it is a long bus stop with two different bus bays and commuters are not sure what buses stop at which bay."
Mr Chee said the pillars are meant to support the roof and had to be installed at the front - rather than at the back as is more common - because there are underground drains at the back of the bus stop.
"Building the pillars at the back, on top of the underground drains, would hamper subsequent maintenance work that needs to be done," he added.
Mr Chee said LTA had considered other locations for this bus stop, but decided to stick to this spot and work around the site constraints because it is a shorter distance for commuters to walk to and from Marine Parade MRT station.
"I recognise the downside of this arrangement, as it means commuters could not clearly see the approaching buses when they are seated inside the bus stop," said Mr Chee.
However, with technology, not having a direct line of sight does not mean no visibility, he added.
"For example, we could consider installing a camera which faces the oncoming traffic, and show the video footage on display screens inside the bus stops.
"This way, commuters who are seated inside the bus stop can see the oncoming buses and have more time to get ready for their boarding."
As for the two bus bays at the stop, Mr Chee said LTA's reasoning was that it will speed up boarding as many buses call at the same bus stop, and if the buses were not separated, commuters might have to walk farther to board them.
"I understand LTA's reasons for having two bus bays. LTA will improve the signages at the bus stop to make it clearer to commuters where they should go to wait for their bus," he added.
Mr Chee said LTA will provide an update on the improvements to be made after its review.
The bus stop began operations shortly before the new Thomson-East Coast Line station opened on June 23.
