Many commuters said they wanted frequent updates across all possible online channels, as well as station announcements. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: A new move to communicate minor MRT delays to passengers at affected stations instead of broadcasting the delays on social media is not enough, said commuters. This means people will find out about the delay too late to make other travel plans.
The majority of 44 commuters interviewed by The Straits Times on Thursday (Dec 4) said they preferred to get updates about disruptions from a variety of social media channels, and not just announcements or updates at the stations.
On Dec 3, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said rail operators SMRT and SBS Transit will prioritise on-site communications to passengers who are directly affected by minor MRT delays, rather than broadcast a general social media advisory on maximum travel time.
These “localised” communications – at affected stations and surrounding MRT interchanges – include information displayed on physical signs and digital screens, audio announcements, as well as the presence of staff to guide passengers.
Minor delays involve a shorter stretch of the rail network and disruptions that are expected to last less than 30 minutes.
This new approach follows advice from a task force working to improve the reliability of Singapore’s rail network.
The authority’s comments came after some passengers were irked by the absence of updates on SMRT’s social media channels during two separate train disruptions on the Thomson-East Coast Line on Nov 18 and the East-West Line on Dec 2.
Some MRT users told ST on Dec 4 that finding out about a train disruption only when they get to a station can cause them to be late or force them to spend extra money on private-hire car services.
This new arrangement, said marketing executive Zuriel Isaac, 23, could cause him to be late after he had already committed to travelling on the MRT.
He said: “Minor delays can still affect transfers or cause crowding. This can influence whether I take an alternative route. Having system-wide updates would help me plan ahead of time, and make decisions beforehand on whether I should take an alternative route.”
Bisman Gill, 18, said this new localised approach “does not make sense” and would mean a wasted trip to a station only to find out about a train disruption.
“How can we not be told about disruptions beforehand? We are paying transport fares,” added the tertiary student.
Swimming coach Vernon Lee, 30, described the new arrangement as “frustrating”, as passengers would find themselves caught in the middle of a disruption simply because they were unable to plan ahead.
He added that social media should be used to disseminate information, given that the operators already have these platforms.
Coach Annalis Shashi, 20, said the absence of train network-wide updates on social media may make it difficult for her employer to verify a train delay if she is late for work – and she may have to take the blame for arriving late.
Others questioned if delays over 10 minutes can be described as “minor” and localised.
Aldric Foo, a 22-year-old civil servant, said: “If I find out there is a train delay only when I reach the gantry or tap in, that’s time wasted that I could have spent booking a cab in order to get to my destination on time.
“Localised reports should be done only for delays that can be solved in less than 10 minutes,” he added.
Financial consultant Sean Ling, 29, said 30 minutes is still a significant duration, and could mean the difference between being late for an appointment and being on time.
Not all passengers were critical of local alerts at stations.
Nurse Alice Phua, 69, said such notifications are “fair”, as only those at affected stations need to know and get these updates in quick time.
Engineer Frank Ling, 57, said he prefers receiving social media updates, but welcomes localised station announcements for advance or immediate notice about delays.
Many commuters, however, said they wanted frequent updates across all possible online channels, as well as station announcements.
“I do not really mind being spammed by updates because I would rather there be an excess of information, even if (the disruption) is minor,” said student Sean Chiu, 25.
“Commuters will eventually find out about disruptions at the station or through community channels. Why not just be upfront from the start?” he asked.
LTA said the new arrangement follows feedback that communicating the maximum additional travel time does not accurately reflect the impact of disruptions on individual passengers, especially those who would make unnecessary or costly detours if train services resumed as expected.
Younger commuters like student Elliot Chan, 18, said the on-site announcements should not replace social media, which is where youth primarily receive information.
Younger commuters also suggested a Telegram channel, while older passengers suggested a WhatsApp channel.
Both rail operators do not have official Telegram and WhatsApp channels that broadcast information on delays. There is a community-run Telegram channel, SG MRT Updates, that sources information on MRT disruptions from the operators’ social media channels.
Retiree Ding Siok Ing, 87, who said WhatsApp is her go-to app, noted that seniors like herself need to plan their commutes carefully so they do not get too tired.
On Sept 22, Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow told Parliament that passengers should be able to get information on alternative travel routes and additional travel time specific to their locations from a centralised source, possibly on an app.
Personal development coach Janani Harvell, 49, agreed that an integrated app consolidating location-specific routes and updates on MRT disruptions would be better for passengers, compared with the current reliance on multiple map apps to plan journeys.
Replying to ST’s queries, LTA said on Dec 4 that its priority is to provide timely and accurate information specifically to help passengers continue their journeys – which is why the operators will prioritise localised communications, especially for those at stations who are directly affected.
In addition to on-site announcements, online tools are being developed to provide more precise, location-specific journey time information for all passengers, the authority added.
“This can further help commuters decide, based on where they are and where they are heading, whether to stay on the train or consider alternatives,” LTA said.
Noting that it has increased the frequency of rail reliability reports and added more reliability indicators, LTA said this will provide commuters with “a clearer picture” of how the rail network is performing.
“These regular reports provide a transparent view of the network’s performance, and allow the public to track trends over time,” it added.
The authority did not address commuters’ unhappiness with the new approach, or clarify its plans for handling disruptions lasting more than 30 minutes.
The rail reliability task force will provide more information in due course, it said.
On the negative response from commuters, Dr Samuel Chng, head of the Urban Psychology Lab at the Singapore University of Technology and Design’s Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, said passengers value broader situational awareness even if they are not yet in the affected area of the rail network.
Knowing about a disruption early helps commuters feel prepared and in control, especially when they have time-sensitive commitments.
Associate Professor Walter Theseira, a transport economist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, attributed the unhappiness to a perceived lack of transparency – fairly or not – if there are no social media notifications.
Noting that Singaporeans tend to have “unrealistic” and high expectations of public transport, he quipped: “If a disruption happens, but it isn’t reported on social media, did it really happen?”
This change comes amid a recent spate of MRT disruptions that have remained fresh in everyone’s minds, said Prof Theseira, inadvertently raising concerns about accountability and trust.
“It’s important for the authorities to acknowledge these issues and to explain how they will improve on communications,” he added.
Dr Chng said that the rationale behind LTA’s new approach is understandable, since system-wide announcements about maximum additional travel times can create the impression of a larger disruption than is the case.
With the promised location-based features on an online platform not yet ready, the authorities will find the transition period to be most challenging. In the meantime, commuters will prefer broader system-wide notifications about their journeys, he said.
Prof Theseira also said more work has to be done to bridge the gap between the information LTA is presenting and what passengers find useful, citing an example of traffic congestion maps for major expressways as a useful and succinct way of presenting real-time road disruptions.
Rail operators and the LTA can further improve how they manage communications for MRT disruptions, he said. They can examine in detail passengers’ responses after rail disruptions, as well as conduct research on commuter behaviour and how they use information given to them.
Wong Pei Wen, senior lecturer at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University, said that commuters’ unhappiness stems from the prospect of unwanted surprises from this new alert format.
Wong, a crisis management expert, added that LTA and the rail operators “face a tough balancing act”, and that they need to provide accurate localised updates for affected commuters, while addressing the increasing demand for accurate prediction of delays.
In the interim, she said that the public needs more assurance that this new approach applies only to minor disruptions, and details on when the new location-based app features will be rolled out to complement the localised announcements.
“The message that this is only for minor disruptions, where fewer stations are affected, and a positive move to reduce overcrowding, may not have sunk in,” said Wong, adding that more can be done to explain this rationale to commuters. - The Straits Times/ANN
