LTA Explains Why Their Bus Stop Benches Cost So Much & Burns IKEA At The Same Time

Recently, the Land Transport Authority came under fire for the cost of their bench.

And the incident that revealed the bench? A man dismantled and stole a metal bench from a bus stop with his hands.

Yes. His. Bare. Hands.

Bus Enthusiast Stole Metal Bench From Bus Stop Because He Wants To Decorate His House

On 14 Jun 2017 at around midnight, a man decided to steal a metal bench from a bus stop at Braddell Road. 22-year-old Tan Ke Wei reportedly wanted to model his house after an integrated bus stop (taste, my friend, is subjective).

When he saw the metal bench, he found it “nice” and wanted to bring it home to “check its dimensions”. He meddled around with the bolts and managed to unscrew all eight bolts holding the metal bench to the ground.

He then placed the metal bench in a trash bag and took a taxi home.

When the Land Transport Authority was shown the metal bench, they said the bench belongs to them and is worth $1,500.

And with that juicy little tidbit revealed, the comments started flooding in:

LTA Has Come Forward To Reveal Their Side of the Story

LTA explained that benches in all 5,000 bus stops across Singapore cost between $500 and $1,500. And that’s excluding installation costs.

It all depends on the materials they’re made of.

Older benches are made from concrete and stainless steel while newer bus stop benches are made from aluminium and designed with armrests. This, they say, will allow elderly people to get up from seats easier.

The bus bench that was stolen, said LTA, was a powder-coated aluminium bench. It cost $1,300 for the bench and $200 for installation fees.

And the reason why Tan was able to remove it easily with his hands?

It’s because he managed to get to it before works on the bench was completed.

The bench was supposed to be permanently fastened to the ground by encasing the bolts with concrete.

Tan got to it two days before it could be carried out by the contractor.

And Managed To Burn IKEA At The Same Time

IKEA has a track record of running (successful) tongue-in-cheek ads that upsell their own products in line with current viral topics.

And the “Bus Stop” incident is no different.

Shortly after news of what Tan did hit the papers, IKEA came up with this advertisement on their Facebook page.

And people were like: Well played, IKEA. Well played.

It would’ve ended at that except LTA’s explanation about the cost of their benches seemed to burn IKEA.

When asked if LTA has called for open tenders before proceeding with the project, they said that they did.

Open tenders were called for upgrading current bus stops infrastructure, including construction and upgrading of public bus stops’ benches.

“These benches are expected to last at least 20 years with minimum maintenance.”

There’s a saying Singaporeans have about IKEA: Their products are cheap and well-designed but they never last.

Well played, LTA. Well played.