Growing transport grouses not unexpected

Greater dissatisfaction with Singapore's public transport providers, as measured by the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) released last week, was hardly a surprise. But even as public transport operators SMRT and SBS Transit try to fix this, they face the heightened challenge of renewing an ageing public transport system amid climbing ridership numbers. The latest CSISG scores for both the MRT and public buses sub-sectors sank to 61.9 and 61.1 respectively from a year ago, significantly below the national score of 69.1 in 2011. ISES Academic Director Marcus Lee is of the view that the best way forward for both public transport operators is to re-engage their customers.