【正文】 ed. TheTachograph detects jerky driving orabrupt braking and helps keep trackof the bus captains’ driving habits.L50539 Yellow steps, zero step fromentrance to exit. The steps arecovered with bright yellow floorcover to allow the passengers to seethe steps clearly when boardingand alighting.L50539 Zero step from entrance to exit, lowfloor design. The low floor and zerostep from entrance to exit (alsoknown as stepless aisle) not onlymake boarding and alighting saferand easier, but are also more convenient and userfriendly for children and the elderly.L50539 Stanchion poles and handrails.These help passengers when movingin the bus. They are yellow so thatthey are easily visible to passengersand they are textured to allow better grip.L50539 Articulated TIBS bus. The bus operViewpoint: Muhammad Faishal Ibrahimator TIBS has also introduced anarticulated bus, which is longer andsafer. The bus has three doorsallowing muters to alightquickly. It is equipped with a lockthat prevents the accelerator frombeing depressed when the doors arenot fully closed. In addition, it alsohas photoelectric sensors whichkeep the door from closing whenthere are passengers standing on thesteps of the exit.L50539 Airconditioned buses. Due to theclimatic condition of Singapore, airconditioned buses are highly favoured. According to the PublicTransport Council (PTC), a publictransport watchdog, in time allbuses will be airconditioned, fromthe current level of 80%.L50539 TVMobile. TVMobile is the first inthe World to use Digital VideoBroadcast (DVB) technology todeliver high quality mobile TV programmes to public transport muters. With broadcasts of real timefinancial data, news updates,weather reports, entertainment andcritical information, TVMobilekeeps muters uptodate evenwhile they are intransit. TVMobilewas launched on 1500 airconditioned SBS buses initially. However, with future extension of itsservices, TVMobile will keep muters on LRT, taxis and other private vehicles occupied with information and entertainment.L50539 Seat Counter device. The SeatCounter is fabricated inhouse toshow passengers the number ofseats available on the upper deck ofa doubledecker. The device is currently installed in more than 100SBS buses.Travel information services UsingGlobal Positioning Satellites (GPS), theLTA in collaboration with the SBS isimplementing a Travel InformationService (TIS) that will provide realtime information on bus locations andarrival times through the display panelsinstalled at bus stops. Such service isalso available at bus interchanges,where it will provide information onservice destinations, boarding anddeparture times. On the other hand,TIBS is currently working on the209implementation of the Integrated BusOperating System (IBOS). IBOS makesuse of the Global Positioning System(GPS) to track buses, which allow theprovision of accurate information onbus arrival and departure time at everybus stop.Bus interchange developments Besidesserving as holding areas for buses orwaiting areas for passengers, bus interchanges of the new millennium playimportant roles in the integration withother modes of transport. The ToaPayoh Interchange, which began itsoperation recently, is integrated withthe MRT station and Housing andDevelopment Board Centre development. It is the first interchange in Singapore to have airconditioning at thepassenger waiting area.MRTThe Singapore MRT system is a conventional electricallydriven railwaysystem. It has the ability to carry manypassengers at high speed and at regularintervals by using its own exclusiverightofway. It is fast and unaffectedby traffic congestion, alleviating congestion on the surface routes by absorbing traffic from the existing roads andexpressways. Its operation began in1987 and Singapore MRT Ltd (SMRT)operates the system. Currently, the work prises 51 stations and thereare 106 operational trains. The workprises the East–West line fromPasir Ris to Boon Lay, as well as plying to the Changi Airport。 Cheungand Hoen, 1996。 Jorgensen, 1995。 and theNorth–South line from Marina Bay toJurong East via Woodlands. Construction of another 20 km NorthEast MRTLine (NEL) is in progress. The NELwill run underground from Punggol inthe Northeast to the World TradeCentre in the South and will link upwith the existing work at DhobyGhaut and Outram Park Stations. Whenpleted in the first half of 2020, theNEL will add another depot and 16 stations to the existing MRT system (referto Figure 2).The MRT forms the backbone of thepublic transport system in Singapore.The route has been planned to runthrough the most densely populatedareas of Singapore. It serves not onlyto connect the various satellite townsbut also to link these major housingareas with the Orchard Road corridor,the Central Business District and industrial estates. Today, more than a millionpassenger trips are made on the MRTdaily, a tenfold increase pared to1987. More than 60% of Singaporeansuse the MRT to travel to work, to homeand to play. Since its first operation,many initiatives have been taken tomake the MRT safer, more convenientand muterfriendly.Covered linkways and integration withother modes Covered linkways havebeen built to link MRT stations tobuildings for smoother journeys andtransfers. As part of the integrationamong the transport modes, taxishelters/passenger pickup points andbicycle stands are also provided outsidethe MRT stations (refer to Figure 3).Television The SMRT in collaborationwith the Singapore Cable Vision haveinstalled televisions which show trailers of popular movies, snippets ofsporting events and music videos toreduce muter