Don’t be surprised if you board a bus sometime over the next couple of months and find yourself face to face with a screen that separates you from the driver. As part of a six-month trial by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), eight public buses have been fitted with impact-resistant screens to protect bus drivers from potential hijacks or assaults — and eight more will receive the same treatment by February.
According to National Transport Workers’ Union executive secretary Melvin Yong, this initiative comes on the heels of a heightened security threat in Singapore. Involved in the pilot trial are the four public bus operators: Go-Ahead Singapore, SBS Transit, SMRT Buses, and Tower Transit.
The Straits Times noted that the trial will test the effectiveness of the screens, so that the LTA can evaluate the initiative and its effect on the bus captains’ ability to do their duties.
Yong, himself a Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC, had suggested the move in Parliament last November. In his Facebook post last Friday, he welcomed feedback and suggestions from bus captains and commuters on “the usefulness and feasibility of the screen”.
In response, netizens did what they do best and offered up their (mostly negative) opinions.
