The LTA (Land
Transport Authority) in Singapore have decided to let the residents of
Singapore vote to colour their own buses in bright red or lush green.
From the LTA Press release
Bright Red or Lush
Green?
You
decide! Vote now
Now
is the time for you to have your say on the look of Singapore’s public buses.
We invite members of the public to select from two colours—red or green— for
the new livery that public buses will don in the future. In conjunction, LTA is
also proud to unveil the new SG Bus logo that will be featured on all of our
public buses in Singapore, together with the new livery.
A common livery for a
unified identity
With
the transition to bus contracting model, the Government will gradually own all
public buses. A common livery will create a unified and distinctive identity
for our Singapore Bus.
Along
with the common livery, public buses will also bear a distinct logo which
features the word ‘SG Bus’ with an embedded stylised heart within the logotype.
It also includes the slogan, “Moving Ahead Together”, which heralds the arrival
of Singapore’s new public bus industry, conveys commuters’ experience in their
daily rides, and cultivates a sense of public ownership for the SG Bus.
The
common livery and logo will be introduced from the Bulim bus package. They will be extended to other buses gradually
as Government-owned buses replace existing operator-owned ones.
How
to vote for your Singapore Bus
Voting
starts on 8 January 2016 and ends on 5
February 2016. The public can cast votes in three easy ways:
“Colour
Your Buses” Website – Log on to http://colouryourbuses.sg
SMS
to 76677 in this format: LTA Vote Choice NRIC
Name
At
selected bus interchanges and MRT stations
To
help commuters visualise the livery, 20 buses will be painted in the two
colours (10 for each colour) and deployed to 10 bus routes (six from SBS
Transit and four from SMRT) in service during the voting period. There will
also be posters on buses, at bus stops, bus interchanges, and MRT stations.
The
colour with the highest number of votes will become the colour of the Singapore
Bus and the results will be announced in the first quarter of 2016. Fifty
participants from the poll stand to win a $50 shopping voucher in a lucky draw.
The reason why the LTA
wanted to have bus liveries is because they wanted to reform the bus services
to make it part of their bus contracting model.
BUS CONTRACTING MODEL
We
are moving towards the Bus Contracting Model which will enable the Government
to make our public bus services more responsive to ridership and commuter
needs.
Under
the new model, bus infrastructure (eg. depots) and operating assets (eg. fleet
management system) will come under Government Ownership.
We
will determine the bus services to be provided and the service standards. Bus
operators will bid for bus route packages through competitive tendering, and be
paid a fixed fee to operate bus services.
ADVANTAGES
OF THE BUS CONTRACTING MODEL INCLUDE:
·
Strengthening
the Government's ability to respond more quickly to changes in travel demand
and service level expectations.
·
Allowing
bus operators to focus more on the bus services and achieving service
standards.
·
Lowering
the barriers of entry, introducing competition in the industry, which will lead
to the provision of better bus services.
Commuters
can reap the benefits of shorter waiting times, more reliable bus services and
improved service levels when the Bus Contracting Model is implemented!
This shows that the
LTA wanted their bus services to be provided in a similar fashion to that which
London Buses provide because of
competitive tender regime, but the LTA will retain ownership of the bus depot
and the bus fleet.
Ever since London Bus
services were privatised in the mid 1980’s, some routes have buses operated in
non red livery because of competitive tender of the routes. During the same
time, bus services around Britain were deregulated so the bus operating company
operates in their own livery.
Then in 1997, London
Transport Buses wanted bus operating companies to have an 80% red livery in
order to retain the iconic red for
the London Bus services. It soon spread to the rest of London during the early
2000’s. But in 2011, TFL wanted all bus operators to carry a 100% red livery
including the roundals (with the word Buses) on the side of the bus which
reinstates the classic London Transport livery from the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Don't
forget to follow me on Twitter, Tumblr,
Pinterest and Google Plus which
is @CLondoner92