'Why you drive so slow?' Commuter left humbled and impressed by SMRT bus captain's reply

Ever been frustrated at your bus captain for driving too slowly, even when there's no traffic and no passengers to pick up?

Well, it's not a simple matter of going fast or slow.

Stomp contributor Jonathan recently decided to straight up ask a bus captain why he was driving so slow. He was left both humbled and impressed by the latter's answer.

Jonathan had boarded an SMRT bus at the Alexandra Retail Centre bus stop on Wednesday (Aug 31), at around 6.50am.

He recounted: "I was sitting in front, beside the bus driver, and talking to him. I asked him one question, 'Why you drive so slow? Bus stop no passengers, but you stopped at a few bus stops, open and close the bus door. Why?'

"The bus captain answered me this:

Sir, each and every bus stop has a timing. I cannot go early and I cannot be late by more than five minutes. I need to maintain all my timings. Sometimes I need to drive slow, sometimes I need to go faster because of traffic lights causing a delay, sometimes there are pedestrians crossing the roads. Some bus stops have no passengers boarding but I open the bus door because when I open the door, my timing is captured and recorded in the system. It's to protect myself so that I can answer properly to my supervisors. If I make any mistakes, it will affect my safety incentive.'

Jonathan said he was left "totally impressed", adding: "What a great bus captain.

"I want to share this here because everyone needs to know. Our buses run from 5.30am for the first bus till 11.30pm for the last bus. It's not an easy job to perform.

"I hope all passengers who use public transport can keep this in mind."

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This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.