National University of Singapore Make public transport bus rides within NUS campus free
As a freshman at the National University of Singapore (NUS), I believe I speak for the majority of the students and faculty members when I express my frustration with the internal shuttle bus services.

I agree with Forum contributor Chng Poh Hwa that NUS' shuttle bus services are inadequate (Increase capacity, frequency of NUS campus bus service, Oct 21).

However, his proposal to increase capacity by stopping private car traffic to allow for more buses is also not viable.

Hundreds of faculty members park their cars at their respective faculty carparks, which are accessible only by the internal artery roads. It is not feasible to concentrate this car population at the few outlying carparks and have faculty members take shuttle buses to their offices.

Increasing the number of buses also leads to the question of what the university is supposed to do with these buses and their drivers during off-peak hours. I do not think the university administration will find such a proposal appealing.

There are public buses that ply largely the same routes as the shuttle buses. But cost-conscious students are reluctant to take these public buses.

One viable solution is for public bus operators to allow students with a valid NUS concession card to tap in and tap out at the campus bus stops for free.

The operators can then claim the cost of the rides from NUS.

This would be cheaper than expanding the internal shuttle bus services, which would require more drivers and buses.

Tham Wen Long

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/make-public-transport-bus-rides-within-nus-campus-free

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