The third-party vendor responsible for January’s bus arrival timing disruption will face financial penalties, Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow has confirmed.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question by He Ting Ru on Tuesday (3 March), Mr Siow said penalties would be imposed “in accordance with the terms of the service level agreement”.
He also revealed that the system was only “fully restored” on 12 Feb, more than a month after the issue was first detected.
The disruption affected the Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) system, causing bus stop display panels and transport apps to show inaccurate arrival timings.
Source: SG Warehouse Sale & Events on Facebook
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) first detected the issue on 10 Jan, with more inaccuracies coming up throughout that week.
On 22 Jan, LTA said that the restoration would take four days. However, it later updated on 27 Jan that the system would not be fully fixed until later that week.
By 7 Feb, about 90% of the system was restored. It was eventually fully rectified on 12 Feb, Mr Siow said.
Mr Siow explained that “physical works” had to be carried out on a significant proportion of buses before the system could be restored.
The system’s accuracy was also cross-checked against actual bus arrival timings to ensure reliability.
Source: LTA
“During this period, performance of the system fluctuated as the proportion of rectified buses deployed for service each day varied,” he said.
He added that LTA had provided “regular progress updates” as the bus system was being corrected until it was fully restored on 12 Feb.
Mr Siow also noted that the upgrade to the Bus Fleet Management System is set to be “progressively” completed by 2027.
Ms He also asked whether prior risk assessments had identified any vulnerabilities before the disruption.
Mr Siow answered that the ETA system undergoes a risk assessment every two years.
Source: Go Ahead Singapore
The last assessment conducted by LTA in July 2024 had spotted “minor issues” which were addressed before the disruption.
“Unfortunately, it did not pick up the issues that led to the disruption,” he added, stating that the authorities would review their risk assessments for future changes.
Vendors would now face financial penalties “in accordance with the terms of the agreement” for the disruptions caused.
Also Read: LTA says bus arrival timings restored to above 90%, thanks commuters for patience & understanding
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Featured image adapted from LTA (left) and Resident-Ad7091 on Reddit (right).