Questions raised over govt funding in S$1M Marine Parade shuttle bus service

SINGAPORE: A free shuttle bus service for residents in Marine Parade GRC, MacPherson, and Mountbatten, which costs approximately S$1 million annually to operate, has come under public scrutiny after opposition Members of Parliament questioned the funding sources.

During the Parliamentary sitting on August 7, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan informed the House that the South East Community Development Council (CDC) provided a one-off seed grant of S$200,000 to support the pilot scheme.

The remaining 80 per cent is covered by donations from the CDC and various grassroots organizations.

“Essentially, the Government matches donations raised by the CDCs with grants, which the CDCs can use to support ground-up initiatives,” Mr Tan said in response to questions from opposition MPs, Leader of Opposition Mr Pritam Singh, Ms Hazel Poa, Mr Leong Mun Wai, and Mr Gerald Giam about the shuttle service.

The total cost of the one-year shuttle bus trial, which began on July 8, amounts to about S$150,000 per route per division.

The South East CDC grant contributes approximately S$2,400 per division each month.

Mr Tan also revealed that over 10,000 residents have registered for the shuttle service, with more than 40% being seniors aged 65 and above.

"It is too early to assess the service’s effectiveness,” Mr Tan stated, emphasizing the critical factor of financial sustainability.

He noted that once the CDC grant is exhausted, grassroots organizations will need to fund the entire operation or develop a more sustainable financing model.

Mr Yee Jenn Jong highlights the ambiguity in S$1 million shuttle bus service funding arrangement

Despite MOS Tan's explanation, Yee Jenn Jong, former Workers' Party Non-Constituency Member of Parliament, raised several critical points regarding the shuttle service, highlighting that "S$1 million is a lot of money for a very limited service" used exclusively by residents of Marine Parade GRC.

In a Thursday (8 August) Facebook post, he noted that the service appeared to be underutilized based on available data, with very few passengers per bus trip.

"The times that I have checked, all buses have always shown as near vacant. Indeed, one can do simple math from the Minister's answer - 1,000 residents using the service each week divided by 5 days, divided by 7 buses (over 7 separate routes), divided by 6 hours of operations per day = 4.76. "

"Actually, the buses complete a route in perhaps 30-45 minutes, which means around 3-4 persons per bus trip."

Mr Yee further questioned the clarity of the funding arrangement, specifically whether the government’s matching funds amounted to S$600,000 in total (S$400,000 in donations matched by S$400,000 from the government).

He also called for transparency regarding the tender process for this significant project involving government funds.

'Are MPs' faces also landmarks of Marine Parade?'

Additionally, Mr Yee ridiculed the use of caricatures and drawings of Marine Parade landmarks on the buses.

WP MP for Aljunied GRC had previously raised concerns in Parliament about the faces of Marine Parade GRC MPs from the ruling People's Action Party being depicted on the buses.

In response, Minister of State Alvin Tan explained that the caricatures were intended to help seniors identify the buses more easily, similar to the landmarks depicted.

" I can understand how buildings can be landmarks- are faces landmarks too? " Mr Yee questioned.

Referring to Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat’s response to Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, who had noted that shuttle buses might not be financially viable due to the costs of hiring drivers and limited passenger capacity, Mr Yee expressed doubt about the financial viability of the shuttle service.

He cited past attempts in other constituencies, which he believes had all failed, as evidence of the project's potential shortcomings.