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Stickers give a hand to those who need seats, lifts

SINGAPORE — Public transport operator SMRT is giving a hand to commuters who would happily give up their seats to those in need of a rest, but are unable to tell who needs help.

SINGAPORE — Public transport operator SMRT is giving a hand to commuters who would happily give up their seats to those in need of a rest, but are unable to tell who needs help.

Care stickers will be made available to five groups of commuters who might require special care and attention: Expectant mothers, senior citizens, parents travelling with infants, commuters with mobility needs and unwell passengers. They can approach staff at all passenger service centres along its MRT lines and bus interchanges for a sticker that corresponds to their need.

This is similar to the priority stickers used by the Taipei Metro in Taiwan, which has been providing them for those who require seats since 2007.

SMRT is also running a trial of priority queues at lifts located at 12 MRT stations. The lifts will have new priority queue floor stickers to cater to passengers who have a greater need for the facility. The selected stations include Simei, Novena, Orchard and City Hall, and were picked based on their proximity to medical facilities such as hospitals as well as their high traffic flow.

“Our bus and train services carry more than 2.5 million commuters every day and among them are some who might need some extra care. While passengers are generally courteous and are willing to offer seats to those in need, we feel that a sticker could help commuters identify and extend care more easily,” said Mr Alvin Kek, SMRT’s vice-president for rail operations, in a media release yesterday.

“But we do also hope that commuters will continue to extend care to others in need even if they are not wearing a care sticker,” he added.

Together with mobile phone charging points being rolled out at various stations, the care stickers and priority queues are among a series of initiatives SMRT is introducing to enhance the travel experience, the operator said.

“Commuters can be assured that even as we introduce these new, complimentary service enhancements, SMRT remains committed and focused on ensuring reliable train service through the procurement of new trains and on-going asset renewal programmes,” it added.

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