Have more seats at front of buses for seniors’ convenience

I took a public bus from Toa Payoh Bus Interchange on Sunday (April 11) afternoon.

The double-decker that I boarded was full and quite a few elderly passengers had to walk to the rear to find a seat. 

The elderly woman I sat next to was complaining to her friend about the inconvenience of getting to the seats in the rear, because there was a step that she had to climb over. 

Speaking in dialect, she said that her legs were weak and so she had much difficulty going all the way to the back and climbing over the step to get to the seat. 

The friend she spoke to had similar problems. 

My initial thought was: What happened to the priority seats at the front of the bus? 

I looked in that direction and they were occupied by mostly elderly passengers, too. 

I have the following suggestions for the Land Transport Authority. 

First, in designing future public buses, more seats can be made available at the front of buses, especially double-deckers.

Second, perhaps more space could be freed up in the front half of a bus by moving the staircase leading to the upper deck to the back of the bus, to cater for more elderly-accessible seats in front? 

In light of our ageing population, the design of public buses should be relooked.

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