Pkchukiss - Reality Wine

I know that you know that I know that Singapore is a pretty small country. That makes it cost inefficient for us paupers to invest in a car to get around.

So instead of resorting to cycling or running 30 km to work every day, we have a pretty nifty human invention that never fails to amaze: mega-car pooling (or as we all know it: buses).

Granted, we have been taking it for so long that this ingenious adaptation has become part of a concrete island life, yet for some reason, on a transport system that clocks 2 million commuter trips per day, you continue to find grimy, smelly seats and interiors.

Yikes! I don’t want to be showing pictures, but the abject state of some of the buses out there is enough to relieve every pregnant men and ladies out there of their recently consumed meals.

It appears that the problem area is always at the rear, where the 15 year old engine rumbles with the smell of unidentified sweat, dirt, dust, and other anti-nose irritants serve to keep people in a highly agitated state.

The situation is more acute on SMRT buses than on SBSTransit ones, but given time, I would vote for both companies to be abject maintainers of their own properties.

That makes me wonder what happened to all the fare raises, purported to keep the companies in profit, so that they may continue to provide comfortable and enjoyable rides to commuters.

In case you don’t know what I am referring to, just hop on SMRT service numbers 857 or 985. Since the problem is more noticeable on the old Mercedes Hispano bus makes, you might want to wait out the bendys and long buses (which are relatively new; though you might want to try them a few years down the road for a similar experience).

The front of the bus feels pleasant enough, though your eyes are already struggling with the perpetual grime and molds along the door rims, not to mention the dust covering the front panels of less accessible areas. Do not, for your sanity’s sake, look along the silicon sealants on the windows. The mixtures of dead insects and mould is simply too revolting for a sane human to bear.

The visual disaster does not even preclude on what is going on in the air circulating the bus. Previously, I remembered that when SMRT was still TIBS, they always installed air fresheners on their buses, which always covered up the bad smells that might be on the bus. It seems that it was scrapped like an expense.

Well, they would not have needed the air fresheners in the first place had they kept the buses clean in the first place. I am really shocked that the buses that I enjoyed taking 12 years ago have been neglected till such an extent that they are an assault on our very senses!

It simply makes me want to get a car instead. At least I know that I take more pride in my transport than the two major companies do.

Filed under: General