SBS8033D,

I know how easy it is to take the simple way out by ignoring the replies to your wonderful post of that 9888Y, create a new identity and start afresh. In fact I'm very surprised if you had not already done or contemplated to do so.

To the amount of effort you placed in copying, removing and pasting the copyright logo, do the edits and finally post it online, I'm pretty amazed that you do not even bother to send a simple e-mail to the owner to the gallery to request for permission.

Fine if you still insist on blatantly copying and editing it, but its a fact that your photoshopped photo is a great disgrace to this special bus and the community...to put it simply it sooooo simple to identify the edits as they are so poorly done that it would be insulting the intelligence of the members here!

Do note that your imageshack account will be terminated by imageshack if it is reported as being abused. As a warning, previous members who have used the photos of others without permission have their photo hosting sites terminated as it constitutes as an abuse under the terms of conditions.

http://reg.imageshack.us/content.php?page=rules

The following types of files constitute "abuse" may not be uploaded under any circumstances:

• Pornographic files. This includes, but is not limited to, files depicting genitalia, nudity, or sexual situations.
• Files that are illegal and/or are in violation of any United States laws.
• Files that infringe on the copyrights of any entity excluding the user.
• Non-image or non-swf files. This includes archived non-image files.
• Files intending to harass or spam, or promote anything for commercial profit

It can't be that hard to type out an apology, can it?

Originally posted by Oceane:

There was actually quite a short period of time whereby bendies were already used before ST 41 was constructed. The buses still use the reversing space meant for them at AVE 1, but the BCs were specially trained on how to reverse out of it.

Sounds good but unfortunately you can't smoke the resident who had depended on the service for some 20yrs now.

I believe that I had clarified this a couple of times in other threads on this forum, so for the benefit of those who missed them, true bendies did appear on 804 before St 41 was opened, BUT the bendies started downroute only after Yishun Ring Rd/Yishun Ave 11 junction. This was a regular afternoon arrangement that started in '99 (bendies after '00) to help with the afternoon school crowd.

Seeing the bendies or even producing a photograph of a svc 804 bendy further down the route or disembarking passengers at Yishun Ave 2/Yishun MRT does not imply that the bus actually did the full route with the 3 point turn!

The only time when bendy appeared on 804 and did full route was in '99 when they did try with a box bendy and appeared that the bus had much difficulty doing the U-turn and the idea was subsequently dropped to have bendies run full route on 804. It was only after the Yishun St 41 amendment that bendies became permanent on 804.

Originally posted by Oceane:

804 practically has no breaks for BC. Arrive into BC straightaway continue another round. I think they may have JUMP BUS for it but I'm still unsure of it. Could be BC does a few times before he is allowed to JUMP BUS.

Wrong again, my dear friend. Svc 804 SLs rests for an equivalent of 1-2 trips after every trip, which translate to about 8mins during non peak and 5-7mins during peak hour. Yes, they rest even during peak hours unless they are very late that they appear to do another trip out immediately (not that common).

I also don't think 804 jumps bus at all; its inherited from TIBS days that SLs are assigned to their own bus which is carried on until now.

Originally posted by Oceane:

Ya... 811 is one of them. Turn right out of INT then going past the industrial estate, crosses AVE 2 and heads to Chong Pang. After which, it turns left opposite Yishun MRT Station (instead of right) into AVE 2 and turns right, past the industrial estate, by which turning out after the CC and finally reaches the terminal.

Waste of time.

It's amazing that you proclaim and market yourself as a Yishun bus fan and did not notice the special bus stop almost directly opposite Yishun MRT which is only served by 811. This bus stop effectively divides the circuitous route into 2 parts, where peeps living in Ave 7/Sembawang Rd just take the bus to this bus stop, alight and cross the road to transfer to the MRT. From Ave 7 it takes no more than 10mins.

For residents living along Sembawang Rd/Yishun Ave 7, there's always the option of the much shorter 800 or 965 back home.

If you have bothered to take 811 before, you would have noticed that the bus loads is lowest between the abovementioned bus stop and Ave 7, where it starts picking up workers working in the industrial park and residents back to Yishun Int, where it is at most a 10-15mins ride away for that section.

Thus effectively the portion of the route is divided into 3 sections serving 2 rather seperate groups -

Yishun Int->Yishun Ave 7 (ITE, workers, residents in N3,N2)
Yishun Ave 7->Yishun Ave 5 (opp Yishun MRT) (residents in N7, N1)
Yishun Ave 7->YIshun Int (ITE, workers, residents in N3,N2)

The connection between these 2 groups serves a small passenger base who will find it a direct convenient link (eg housewives going to Chong Pang market, students studying at Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary)

Originally posted by alleggerita:

But all of you here should understand one thing here..Vehicles tend to be more powerful at night..

Reason is simple..when night falls, air becomes cooler..and as we all know from science lessons, cold air sinks..so when the air become cooler, more air sinks to the ground level..

And we also know internal combustion engines (regardless of petrol or diesel) need air to combust the fuel..and the more air, the better (hence the invention of turbocharger/supercharger)..

So when vehicles travel at night, more cool air goes into the engine..and when more air goes into the engine, it creates a natural kind of turbocharger/supercharger effect..and plus the fact the air is cooler at night, it's even better for diesel engine..a natural "intercooler"!!!

Added: And that's possibly the reason why all of you find buses at night to be more powerful..

Indeed. I would also understand that all your science, physics and chemistry teachers would be so ashamed of having you as a student upon reading this.

A few Kelvins difference in temperature at night would have negligible effect on your painstakingly constructed explanation of a combustion engine.

Its just the fact that roads are emptier at night and scheduled public buses have shorter run times, necessating it to cover the same distance in a shorter time hence greater average speed.

Originally posted by patdog112:

i wonder does terminal 3 has a bus bay anot

Yes it does have a basement bus terminal like the other 2 terminals. Refer to this:-
http://www.changiairport.com.sg/t3/

Go to FactSheet -> Buses

Finally after years of feedback & complaints by both commuters & SLs, SMRTB decides to convert the *only* feeder service with restricted operating hours to a normal feeder service from 29 Jul 07.

With this amendment, svc 806 is no longer considered as a "svc 804 helper" service as when it first started, but a seperate & independent feeder serving a specific community that depends on it.[/img]

Originally posted by stooper:

Ez-link card can use in national exams... No problem.

Ah ic thanks. Perhaps convenience is the key now

Yupz. I guess 179H should be doing a morning split only, should have caught sight of her if she’s doing a full AM shift as she’s reported to be about 20-30mins behind 180C during morning peak.

CSS180C is currently out there now running on svc 190 for those who are interested. Last seen position is 2pm at Clarke Quay towards Choa Chu Kang, tailing closely behind 601Z.

Originally posted by LazerLordz:

You're missing my point.

I'm saying that MOE should not lend any form of legitimacy to EZ-Link because of the issue that EZ-Link is a private entity and seems to be allowed to retain the cards, even those that are acting as student ID cards.

On the issue of birth certificates and passports, be realistic. You think you would trust kids to carry them around at such a young age?

Let the students have the concession card, but MOE should give them a stand-alone student ID so that confiscation (which IMHO is already a bad move and smacks of laziness, after all, why not just create a software that can record the particulars of that specific card on the system for further investigation, and eject through discretion) will not affect the kids in their daily life.

Penalising them for fare issues should not extend to the retention of their student ID/daily-usage national ID.

Lastly, yes I do not subscribe/read the Straits Times on a regular basis because it frankly lacks substance and does not provide critical or fair commentary on most national issues. There's always RSS.

I don't really care for buses or the transport companies. Let me be frank here, my opinions will be more weighed towards the consumers because I am one myself as well.

If you have an issue with that, too bad. In fact, reading too much of the Straits Times tends to influence people with a biased view of things.

It has been done before in the past before the ez-link card era where students are issued with a seperate student pass and use a seperate fare card to pay for transport. Concession pass holders simply bought stamps and paste on the student pass. Its actually the same in the past; BCs & inspectors have the right to demand to see the student pass when they suspect misuse and it can be confiscated too - I have mine confiscated before cos my face didn;t really match the photo btw and it caused some inconvenience getting it back. It was also permitted as the card was issued by TransitLink, not MOE alone. The student pass like the current ez-link could also be used to borrow library books etc.

However back then, in my opinion students didn;t make a lot of noise cos the concession still remains, they could simply continue using the card as long as another suspicious BC/TI demands for their student pass, for which they could just claim ignorance and pay adult fare for that one trip alone.

The student pass/national ID is USELESS when it comes to verification during important events such as national exams. I recall vividly that my teacher stressed over and over again that ez-link card is not accepted during the GCE exams - its NRIC or one has to find the chief examiner and beg her to sign a slip to act as a temp ID. It is also definitely not accepted to gain entry into important installations such as MINDEF (it used to, and was promptly stopped when it was discovered that it may pose a security lapse).

There is the official NLB library card to borrow books in lieu of the ez-link card (or student pass back then) and its issued free of charge. I'm sure that there is an alternate way to access school systems in lieu of the barcode as its a pretty unreliable method of authentication, its just that the students might find it a hassle to approach the relevant teacher in charge and so claim that ez-link card is the 'only' way.

Nobody said about bringing that huge laminated piece of paper called a BC around everywhere and everytime - its only on specific occassions where one is informed beforehand that it is required.

Thus it is in my personal opinion that confiscation of the card doesn't really affects the life of students that much, its just that most are disgruntled at having to pay adult fares until the card is returned to them.

The identification function as I explained earlier is limited and there are alternatives available. It would also take like at most 2weeks for it to be returned and not months. It is also hard for MOE as a government ministry to issue such peripherals which is best handled by a seperate company in partnership. (I can vouch that there is a heck lot of costs etc alone in setting up a new card production centre as it isn;t as easy as just printing, pasting and issuing).

In addition, I didn't even mention anything about the Straits Times, so don't assume and put words into my mouth. Papers could mean everything from The Sun to Wall Street Journal. Factual reporting is in my opinion better than ungrounded and unsupported online articles, and commentaries aren't what newspapers are for - they are merely a side.

I don't work for the public transport sector either; I just don't see the logic behind your reasoning and your horribly flawed interpretation of terms. The *ouch* of having to paying adult fare asides, I don't really see how the confiscation of a "national" ID have so much impact on student's lives.

Originally posted by LazerLordz:

Then in that case, get MOE out of the concessionary card system, because they are a party to it, and that is the factor that lends legitimacy to it.

So why not enforce the ejection as a rule?

Whatever the case is, a national transport system should never have a privately issued transport card because there is no differentiation and the possibility of EZ-Link trying to play punk is very high as there is no competition.

How wrong are you again. Don't you ever read the papers? There is a difference between a national transport system & a public transport system; SMRT & SBST are both privately held companies that derives its earnings on fare revenue and does not get government grants for its operations. So as private companies of course it has the choice to engage another private company to manage its fare collection system.

Get MOE out of the concessionary card system? I'm sure that the operators would be more than happy to support the move as it would mean more fare revenue; afterall they are not bound at all to provide concessions!

There is also the logistics & operations associated, ie the production of new cards, maintenance of systems, co-ordination & disbursement of the fare revenue associated with ez-link. In these days even the IT department of government ministries is outsourced as its much more efficient. Thus its not as easy as one thinks to just set up a government board to manage travel cards.

I don't even see that there is a need for competition - one must be mad to have one as the main advantage of a travel card is that of convenience, which means one card to pay for different modes of travel across different companies. Another company = another fare collection system = another set of readers = another card to carry around = increased inconvenience.

Originally posted by dfs24:

As for your photo of 161 outside woodlands int, it seems that you have focused on the tree behind the bus.

Take photos with the sunlight coming from behind you, however taking photo with the source of sunlight in front of you is also possible, provided you make use of shadows and set a lower shutter speed.

I would think that the size of the picture is far too small to tell; it could very well just be due to Jpeg compression while resizing and saving. Or camera failing to track the movement of the bus correctly.

The problem with taking photos into the sun is that it will result in uncomfortably asymmetrical lighting in the photo. Part of the bus might blend into the background due to overexposure (due to the lower shutter speed) and reflection from the sun, and some parts though correctly exposed, would be clearly in shadow. Thus in this case I personally feel that shooting with the sun behind one in the correct direction would produce a photo with a more even lighting that is more comfortable to look at.

Whilst is very true in landscape shots etc to make use of shadows etc, the really good ones I have seen for buses are those with a very clear background thus allowing the sihoulette of the shape of the bus to show up very clearly. The problem lies in finding the perfect location, something which is very difficult in urban Singapore (and trees & lamposts where there isn't).

Originally posted by TWS4793:

Camera wise, buy a bulkier camera, but can still comfortably fit into your pouch. I strongly discourage using a slim camera. With bulkier ones, the performance of your shots are better. Look out for the zoom too-it can help you get closer to the bus. Buy one with a rotatable lens wherever desired (Just like my Nikon Coolpix S4 which I bought a year ago).

I have seen some very decent photos taken with a handphone camera as compared to shots using a DSLR. The main advantage of a bulkier camera is just to be able to grasp it more firmly thus allowing for a lower shuttle speed to be used and thus reducing the likelihood of blur shots.

I guess rotatable lens is just one's preference. For me I find it as a "good to have" but not essential as I almost never wished I had it when shooting buses.

Originally posted by LazerLordz:

However, the BCs don't seem to be ejecting passengers, which should be the correct procedure, and are more likely to choose to retain students' concession card, which happens to be their sole National ID for those below the age of 12.

And retention of national ID is not something that anyone may simply do and quote commercial law.

The BC has the right to re-possess the card for checking if he suspect it to be fraudulently used. Whether he choose to eject the pax or make him pay the non concession fare is a different issue.

As Scania has pointed out correctly, the only official document recognised by law in Singapore for peeps without a NRIC card is the birth certificate (in the case for minors). Passport is of course also acceptable if one has it but has to be supported by the BC in certain cases (need to check on this one).

One can easily tell that the ez-link card is not an official document simply because it is not issued and controlled by a government ministry / stat board. Instead the card is issued and the terms of conditions of usage set by ez-link pte ltd which is still recognised as a private entity.

As stated in my previous post, please read up and open your eyes to observe.

Originally posted by SBS9806J:

Somehow that BC press some button on his EZ-Link machine, then force him to tap his card. I definitely heard only ONE beep. And BTW, $0.65 was deducted, not $0.63. Because when he tapped his card it was $0.20, and when he alighted it was -$0.45.

Ah ic thanks. Looks one of another of those weird ez-link quirks that shouldn't have happened (or BC pressed something that made concession inapplicable).

Originally posted by LazerLordz:

The BC still has no statutory right to confiscate, and it is not a legally enforceable action under Singapore law, because the BC is not an officer of the Penal Code.

It is only a corporate statute, which is basically toothless. If brought to court, a passenger cannot be charged with a crime of refusing to hand over the card.

You are so wrong unfortunately. If you think that only the Penal Code exists under the Singapore judiciary system, I advise you to get out of your self-contained shell and read the papers for a start. Corporate & Banking Law are some of the others that are applicable under Singapore's legal system just to name a few.

You are right to say that the BC has no statutory right, but as TransitLink puts it across in the legal terms which you are so familiar with, a ride is defined as a condition of carriage between the service provider and the passenger subject to the condition of fare being paid. In other words the BC has every right as an authorised representative of the service provider to boot the passenger off the bus if he doesn't seem to be paying the correct fare, thus violating the condition of carriage hence rendering the contract null and void.

And oh, I doubt SBST or SMRTB would want to make such a charge; they have better things to do & there's just the simple solution of denying carriage outright.

Originally posted by SBS2671B:

Thats why SBST got 18 BCs attacked (Serve them rite)
But SMRT got only 1 BC attacked

SBST BC so yaya so they ask for it!

That's because SMRT BC are much less patient. In the case of the cigarette butt incident, a random SMRT BC wouldn't even explain let alone wait. He would just close the door and drive off = mad man not on bus = BC not being hit.

You still haven't answer my query on how $0.63 gets deducted from ur ez-link card when its a secondary concession btw. And I'm very curious to know thank you.

Unfortunately I would prefer if the livery is somewhat more ‘exciting’ with more colours and design rather than this mostly white livery. Its not going to be easy to see her in Singapore though as most of its scheduled arrivals & departures are in the dead of the night, with early morning arrivals on 2 days only.

I doubt that airline plays a part, I have noticed that passengers disembarking from the said airline also gets checked at the arrival gate, thus I would think it might be just purely random check based on certain “criteria of the day”. It would also depend on gate allocation as the X-ray machines at the gate must be free upon the arrival of the aircraft. However I do agree its really a pain and great inconvenience to the passengers especially if its a fully loaded flight on a large aircraft (my worst was waiting 30mins at the queue after disembarking with 300 over pax from a Finnair flight from HEL via BKK).

Originally posted by Zilchster:

The point is...

Drivers should be more diplomatic when they try to confiscate cards.

No wonder bus drivers are so ya ya nowadays. Now with the don't abuse the bus drivers, they can become more yaya.

Problem is that no amount of diplomacy, however good, would help as the passenger would definitely be in a frustrated or agitated mood when the BC mentions that he has to retain the card. The BC also has a tight schedule to follow and cannot afford to spend too much time practising diplomacy too. Claim that BC have no right to confiscate? That's what the newly pasted stickers near the BC's seat are for.

Does diplomacy always work on passengers these days? I doubt so, considering the increase in amount of violence against BCs nowadays - even in one case involving a student from a top JC.

On a side note, it wasn't too long ago when it was reported healthcare workers (nurses & doctors) got physically abused by distraught family members & patients, so much so that hospitals started putting up signs to state their right to protect their staff against abuse.

Originally posted by SBS2671B:

I complained to SBST and tried to kick a fuss in the bus. Commuters were shocked. SBS9806J and I tried to get card back and yes we did in the end. Stupid responses after 2weeks of pestering them for a response, they finally gave us TWO complimentary tix. (Whats the use?, they indirectly robbed me of 6ocents) DAMMMMMMMMMMMMM that BC

Kicking up a fuss doesn't help. Commuters of course looked shocked cos you are holding up the bus and thus delaying the BC's schedule (and probably woke them up from their nap too). Even more reason for the BC to hold on to your card as an independent observer. The BC, or SBST/Transitlink doesn't give a hoot if the card was only made an hour ago if he suspects the card to be invalid.

Count yourself very lucky for SBST to compensate you with 2 complimentary tix as a gesture of goodwill - they don't have to as stated in the official reply posted by sbs_boy earlier. And you in fact still made a nice profit from this episode as the value of the 2 complimentary tix is definitely more than 60 (or is it 63 cents)!

Originally posted by SBS9806J:

He pay for both of us

Still I don't see how $0.63 gets deducted from a secondary school concession card when only $0.45 should have been deducted instead.

Originally posted by ngjy22:

Taken on 7 Jun.
Too much sunlight is also not good!
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q20/ngjy22/P6070116.jpg

It is never the sunlight's fault, rather its the fact that one doesn't know how to make use of the sunlight to one's advantage. For this the camera was probably aimed at the black bumper/tinted windows instead of the bodywork thus causing it to select a slow shutter speed to cause such over-exposure.

Originally posted by patdog112:

good position is needed...

HD DVR stand in a building u can take HD bus video everyday

I wondered have you ever tried it yourself (I interpreted it at least 5-6 X zoom)?

Of course, it boils down to the quality of the photograph which one is willing to settle for, but more often than not the photo would end up with too much front if taken on the same side as the bus stop or very flat if taken from the opposite side, unless one can bend light rays to defy physics at a 'good position'.