Talk about something obvious in your business.
My dad was a bus conductor previously.
If you do not know what a bus conductor does, especially the younger generations, he or she is someone who issue bus tickets on the bus before the smart card system was invented for bus. I remember I used to ask my dad which bus to take if I'm going to a particular place. It's quite amazing that he not only could tell me what number to take, he can even tell me the frequency of the particular bus number. And if there's no direct bus to my destination, he told me exactly where to alight, which bus number to transfer to at the same bus stop I alighted or to cross opposite, and which are the buses I could take if there are alternatives. And in case you are not sure if a particular bus number goes to your destination, you could ask the driver or the bus conductor and they could dispense the same knowledgeable information like my father did. Sometimes back, I saw an elderly man getting up a bus. He asked the driver if the bus passes by a particular building. As the driver is from China, he told the man he is not sure even though the bus passes by the said destination. Talking about public transport, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore announced a two-year trial to improve bus reliability. It uses a reward and penalty system where the bus operators could be fine between $1,300 to $4,000 for every 6 seconds delay or rewarded between $2,000 to $6,000 for every 6 seconds improvement from the baseline. In deciding the reward or penalty, the Excess Waiting Time (EWT) will be used. This is calculated by comparing the commuter’s Actual Waiting Time (AWT) and the Scheduled Waiting Time (SWT) and the EWT score will then be compared to a baseline score, which will differs from service to service This is a shift from checking departures of buses from interchanges to tracking bus stop arrivals. Are you confused? How likely will this trial improve bus reliability? It's too early to say. All bus operators already have their own schedules for their buses. What time does each bus leave the terminal, how long will the journey be on average, how many trips per day per bus route are all planned and followed. If you've taken Singapore's bus, you must have your share of frustrations. Imagine waiting 35 minutes for a bus and then seeing 3 arriving at the same time. Or the bus came but it's too packed and you couldn't get up the bus until the 4th one. That's why everyone says, the bus you are waiting never arrives and when you are not waiting, keeps coming. And you probably have experienced some bus drivers driving like they were on a cruise doing some sight-seeing. The speed is so slow that even a cyclist is faster. Or you'll be on a bus that speed like a F1 racer. One is ahead of schedule and have to slow down while the other is behind schedule and had to speed up. That is the problem they want to address - Ensuring consistent bus services at regular intervals. Now we have the incentive/penalty trial, what do you think will happens? I do not know if the bus operators already have any rewards or penalty system in place for their drivers. But judging from my experience, it looks like there are. Otherwise, how do you explain for the actions of the drivers? If there is already a system in place and condition is not improving, how will another similar system be able to improve situation? For the LTA's trial, this will means additional cost for the bus operators if they are fined. On the other hand, it is additional income if they are rewarded. What do you think the management is going to do? Will they flow down the information to the bus drivers involved in this trial? Will they tweak the schedule or implement some new initiatives so that they will not be fined or even be rewarded? Will the bus drivers involved be pressured knowing the management and authority are keeping tab on this trial? Will the management issues instructions that will pressure the drivers? Will the drivers' salary be deducted if the company is fined? Will the drivers get to share the reward if the company meets the goal? Which is greater - The fear of loss or the benefit of gain? 4/4/2014
6/6/2014 8/8/2014 10/10/2014 12/12/2014 Enough reasons to last you for more than half a year. Invite your customers to lunch.
If you write the month first, it's today.
If you write the day first, it's another two months away. 1314 also means for a lifetime in Chinese. The Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) opened on 29th Dec 2013.
Yesterday was the first working day after it opened. What was supposed to ease the traffic congestion and reduce the traveling time for motorists and drivers ended up causing more congestion. A friend of mine complained to me that she took one hour twenty minutes to reach her office. She was one and a half hour late for work. A few others were all late for work by at least an hour. Some even managed to choked up a taxi fare of $50. There's even one who choked up $74 from a Facebook post. People began to question what's the use of constructing an expressway that causes more jam. And being built undersea, it came with a heavy price tag, $4.3 billion dollar. Many people were venting their anger and frustration over being stuck in the jam, unclear signages and lack of planning in traffic flow. And they got new names for it. Most Congested Expressway, Messy congested expressway, Massive Congested Expressway and what have you. When my cousin Whatsapp me that he took one and a half hour to reach his office, I was like "Huh?" The first thing that came to my mind was the drivers are not familiar with the new road and redirection causing the traffic to slow down. Or too many drivers trying out the new expressway. After all, everyone is interested and curious about new things. But then it's the holiday season and many people are on leave or overseas. By right, there should be fewer cars. So what really caused the problem? News about the opening of MCE on 29 Dec 2013 was announced on 13 Nov 2013. Between 13 Nov to 29 Dec 2013, there were probably advertisements on newspapers announcing the changes in routes, although I couldn't recall seeing any. Since this is a new route, most drivers are likely to be confused and unsure which route to take. In anticipation of this, LTA has deployed staff at the expressway to give directions. On the opening day, a few drivers were interviewed and expressed favorable feedback about the MCE. There was a driver who claimed he shaved off 5 minutes of his traveling time compared to the old route he took. On 30 Dec 2013, a working day, there was a massive jam. To ease the congestion problem, LTA used social media platform like Twitter to provide information and answer questions. And today, they have published road directions on which routes to take for the various destinations. What can you learn from this? 1. Introduce changes slowly. The opening of MCE resulted in too many changes in the routine of drivers which caused confusion. The drivers are also scared of taking the wrong route and ending up further away from their destinations. Instead of introducing all the changes at the same time, would it be better to plan the changes in stages? For example, start the new route with drivers going toward the west first. Then next inform drivers going to CBD of the new changes. This way, drivers will not be confused by all the changes and will not cause congestion by all heading toward the same direction. 2. Give options Give drivers the option to use the existing routes for a period before closing up the exits. 3. Use the right media Was the use of announcement of MCE on newspaper effective in communicating the changes to drivers? Is there a way to measure how many drivers actually saw the announcement and are clear about the changes? Could radio be a more effective media? How helpful was Twitter in disseminating information to drivers? How many drivers are following LTA on Twitter? Would a radio announcement be more effective? 4. Murphy's Law Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. No matter how well planned and executed your actions, things can go wrong. You have to be flexible. So have a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D. 5. Help by not helping Sometimes, your best intention may not be the best solution. By deploying staff at the expressway to help divert and channel traffic, it made the congestion worse as drivers were slowing down or stopping to ask for direction. If LTA had introduced the changes in stages and keeping the existing routes open for a period, could it be better than doing this? |
AuthorOutrageous Marketing Archives
May 2020
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