In September 2023, the Association started a ten-minute rollout campaign, where buses would leave the terminal ten minutes after opening their doors.

This initiative, Eugene says, has been embraced by commuters.

“Your 10 minutes begin when the first person enters the bus and after 10 minutes, whether you are full or not, you have to leave. So far it has been running very well. You know, the commuters have embraced it. People have a little bit more confidence because previously people felt the bus was taking too long to move out. And since then people have been responding favorably,” Eugene explained.

Although apprehensive that bus operators would not support leaving the terminal, the PRO says drivers have accepted the initiative.

“There is a saying that it's difficult for people to adapt to change. Initially, it was difficult for some of the bus operators to embrace it. But as we went along, we realized it's working much better and they have more confidence in the system.”

Contrary to popular opinion, he says buses rarely leave empty.

“You seldom find a bus leaving half empty because people know that the bus is leaving every 10 minutes. You find more people are coming to the bus turn,” he said.

However, the rollout is not without its challenges. While buses may leave full at times, that is not a guarantee.

“Every day is not the same. So you find in between the 10 minutes would elapse and you have to move. But I hardly have a case where somebody only has just about six passengers. Sometimes you are just four passengers, five short, you know. But all in all, it's been working very fine.”

Eugene encourages other routes to adopt a similar initiative.