Singaporeans vote to colour their buses

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!

Source

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.

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