Slow start to premium school transport service

SINGAPORE — Despite initially strong interest in a premium school transport service from about 300 parents, the initiative has started with only 30 or so pupils, half of whom are studying in schools in the Bukit Timah area.

The service, which aims to reduce commuting time by up to 40 per cent for pupils who are prepared to pay a higher fee, was introduced in January by the Singapore School Transport Association (SSTA) and electric-vehicle transport provider HDT Singapore Holding. The pupils are ferried by electric cars, which can take up to four pupils each.

At the official launch of the service yesterday, HDT managing director James Ng said some parents had been put off by the high fees, while about 70 pupils are on the waiting list because they could not be grouped together with others living nearby.

“After asking for our prices, they thought it was relatively more expensive and did not want to take up the service,” he said in Mandarin. The service charges between S$300 and S$350 a month, compared with the normal school bus fee that can range between S$50 and S$250.

Of the pupils placed on the waiting list, Mr Ng said: “We are looking at a 1 to 2km perimeter to pick up the pupils. If they (live outside the perimeter), we are worried that they will affect punctuality.”

He added that about half of those using the service study at schools in the Bukit Timah vicinity, as parents of these pupils — who would otherwise drive their children to school — want to avoid the traffic congestion there, while the SSTA noted that some of these parents are also more willing to spend on the service. These schools include Raffles Girls’ Primary School, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School and Bukit Timah Primary School, among others.

On whether there are plans to lower the fees so more families can afford the service, Mr Ng said his firm is making losses when the cars ferry fewer than four pupils each, in cases where there are not enough pupils living within the same area.

Mr Ng said the company is targeting pupils from international schools next. Adding that these schools start and end at times different from public schools, he said the cars could be used to make more trips each day.

A parent who is using the service is Mr Mark Tang, 39. He and his seven-year-old daughter used to take a taxi from their home in Alexandra Road to Bukit Timah Primary, and she would take the school bus home. The monthly transport expenses added up to about S$700, Mr Tang said. Not only is the service cheaper, it also means his daughter can now sleep for about an hour more, he added. SIAU MING EN