'What if they get lost or injured?' Parents react to common pick-up points for school buses

SINGAPORE - For parents, having common pickup and drop-off points for school buses is acceptable only if their children can get to and from these places safely.

Bus operators, meanwhile, expressed reservations about whether the measure – while welcome – could be implemented, as they expect parents to oppose it.

Both groups were reacting to the proposed measure – one of several announced by the Ministry of Education last Monday to address a manpower crunch in the industry.

Designating common points would cut journey time and potentially allow operators to use larger-capacity buses. This, in turn, would help operators cope with the driver shortage and enable more pupils to be served on each route.

The most commonly cited concern from parents is the risk of having to navigate across traffic junctions when getting to and from the designated locations.

Ms Punita Kupasamy, whose daughter is in Primary 1, said crossing road junctions to get there would be “a clear no-no” for her.

“Safety is the key consideration,” said the 38-year-old who works in the financial technology sector. 

Parents also said they expect the pickup points to be sheltered, given weather conditions.

Those whom The Straits Times spoke to had differing views on how far from home these common pickup and drop-off points can be.

One parent noted that older pupils in Primary 5 or 6 should be more independent and able to walk safely to and from the designated point, compared with those in Primary 1 or 2.

Some consider a five-minute walk from home to be reasonable. Ms Mindy Loo, 42, an engineer whose daughter is in Primary 3, feels that 100m from home is as far as it can go. Currently, the school bus drops her daughter off at the common area of the condominium they live in.

Mr David Tay, 50, who is self-employed and has a son in Primary 1, said a pickup point within 1km is acceptable.

He added that he understands the logistical challenge of picking pupils up directly from their homes, given the manpower crunch.

Other parents noted that they are paying for a school bus service because of convenience and the predictability of knowing when their children will get home.

Ms Cristina Charito, 34, is considering using a school bus for her daughter, who is in Primary 2.

The housewife and her husband have been taking time out to ferry their child to and from school by public bus and taxi after their carpooling arrangement ended in 2022.

She asked if having common pickup points would translate into lower school bus fares.

Housewife May Tan also hopes consolidated pickup points would lead to lower fares.

The Sengkang resident, who is in her late 30s, pays $960 a month in school bus fares for her three daughters, who are in Primary 2, 4 and 6 at the same school in Toa Payoh.

Bus operators said going to each individual pickup point takes around five minutes on average, including travelling time and stopping.

Mr Phillip Peh from Tong Tar Transport Service said a typical school bus route will have around 15 pickup points. Ideally, this would need to be cut to three to four common pickup points to yield significant time savings.

Given how dispersed their addresses are, some pupils will have to walk for more than five minutes to and from these locations, which would not be something parents welcome, he added.

Revolving Transport has already been cutting down on pickup points by clustering pupils living in neighbouring blocks of Housing Board flats into single pickup points.

It deploys larger 29- to 45-seater buses to pick up pupils at these points, compared with smaller 11- to 13-seater buses that go directly to the foot of every block.

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The company’s operations manager, Mr Nicholas Ng, said parents have already been complaining “a lot” about the inconvenience. He believes that pushing to change to a common pickup point that may be even farther from their doorstep would not be popular with parents.

“Parents will question why their kids have to go find the buses. There will be concerns like ‘what if they get lost? Or injured?’” he said.

Mr Leo Bai Ming from DKJ Transport Service thinks the chance of implementing common pickup and drop-off points is low.

He feels it would be preferable to locate common pickup points by the roadside along the route, but this may mean longer distances for children to walk.

He cited the example of Choa Chu Kang housing estate, where the HDB flats can be located quite far from the main road.

There are parents who believe they would not be able to dictate a preferred pickup point that they deem safe and convenient.

While some would make accommodations such as walking their child to and from the pickup point, Ms Punita, who gave birth to her second child earlier in 2023, said: “If it does not work out, I would just have to drive my daughter to school daily with a crying infant in the child seat.”

Additional reporting by Megan Elise Michael

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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