More details needed in app alerts for transport users

After the accident at Joo Koon MRT Station on Wednesday (Nov 15), users of the MyTransport mobile application were not getting immediate detailed information.

I don’t monitor Twitter, so I do not know if the passengers on the trains involved received tweets on the incident or not.

I am concerned that unreliable or false, even malicious, news may spread when there are similar incidents that affect a high number of transport users.

Looking at the notifications or alerts received on the phone, MyTransport app did it right by writing down the time of the notification before its message. For example: “1003hrs: EWL - Additional travelling time of 15 minutes between Jurong East and Tuas Link stations due to a train fault at Joo Koon station. Free bus boarding available at designated bus stops.”

This is unlike alerts from media outlets where there is no time indicated at the start of their posts.

The trouble, though, was that MyTransport’s notifications did not contain any details about what really happened.

The earliest notification popped up about two hours after the incident happened ― a very long period. During that time, unverified news or information may have circulated.

It would be good to have a centralised announcement app for prompt notification of such incidents. This is especially for those where more than one government agency is involved and we can be sure that the messages are issued by the relevant ministry or department.