1983 Toa Payoh Bus Plan

Introduction:

The Toa Payoh Bus Plan of 1983 was a major change to bus routes serving the Toa Payoh New Town from a point-to-point network of bus services to a hub-and-spoke network operating out of Toa Payoh Town Centre. Instead of plying lengthy routes within the estate, Trunk routes were rerouted, with their deleted sectors replaced by a new series of Feeder bus services.

Initiated on 26th December 1983, the bus plan coincided with the opening of the then-newly opened Toa Payoh Bus Interchange, located at the junction of Lorong 2 and Lorong 6 Toa Payoh. The current air-conditioned Integrated Transport Hub (ITH) sits on the former location of the bus interchange.

The Changes:

From 26th December 1983, bus operations in Toa Payoh were re-routed from a point-to-point network of bus services to a hub-and-spoke network. Existing trunk services would no longer make long rounds around the Toa Payoh estate. Instead, they would take the shortest route from the new bus Interchange at Toa Payoh Town Centre, following a series of simple route patterns.

To replace lost connections, six new Feeder services were introduced, plying the shortest route to and from the Bus Interchange. These services were:

• Service 231: Toa Payoh Int ↺ Toa Payoh Lorong 1 & 4
• Service 232: Toa Payoh Int ↺ Toa Payoh Lorong 2 & 6
• Service 235: Toa Payoh Int ↺ Toa Payoh Lorong 5
• Service 237: Toa Payoh Int ↺ Toa Payoh Lorong 7
• Service 238: Toa Payoh Int ↺ Toa Payoh Lorong 8
• Service 239: Toa Payoh Int ↺ Kim Keat Avenue

Existing Feeder service 230 was withdrawn on the same day. Service 231 and 232 operated in two directions, differentiated by Green and White plates.

In addition, the new Toa Payoh Bus Interchange was designed to offer a pleasant environment for bus passengers to transfer and wait for their buses. Outside of Toa Payoh, seven out of twenty-two bus services operating from the Interchange received amendments.

Reasons for the changes:

Main reasons for the big changes in bus routes for Toa Payoh was highlighted by SBS.

The average total length of a Toa Payoh service was 46 km at the time, and 10 km of that length was spent making rounds around Toa Payoh to provide a ‘doorstep’ service to a large number of residents. Daily, a total of 379 SBS buses are deployed on the roads to operate all Toa Payoh services, and during the peak hours, 87 of these buses were circulating around Toa Payoh estate. That accounts to an average of 4 buses per service, either returning to or leaving the Town.

As such, the resources involved in providing a ‘doorstep’ service was extremely high. Furthermore, SBS surveys revealed that most residents find existing journeys lengthy, time-consuming and would prefer to walk instead. This was understandable for a relatively small estate like Toa Payoh: only 1.5 km from North to South, and 2.5 km from East to West. At the time, only one out of five passengers live more than 400 metres away from a trunk route or interchange.

With the new feeder bus services, residents would be able to get around Toa Payoh more quickly and conveniently, and for a much lower fare. With the resources saved, they could be better utilized to step up frequencies on existing bus routes, and continue to keep costs low for the benefit of commuters.

Route changes within Toa Payoh:

Three simple route patterns would be adopted:

1. South bound services will leave the Town directly.
   • Service 139, 140, 141, 143, 145 and 151 will leave via the Toa Payoh South Flyover to Jln Toa Payoh
   • Service 146, 148 and 149 will leave via Lorong 6 before entering Jln Toa Payoh via Kim Keat Ave
2. North bound services will leave the Town via Lorong 4.
   • Services 73, 137, 150, 152, 155, 157, 158 and 159
3. Run through services 95 and 153 will ply Lorong 2, Toa Payoh Central and Lorong 4 between Jln Toa Payoh and Braddell Rd

Route changes outside of Toa Payoh:

Changes will only be made to 7 out of the 22 existing bus services serving Toa Payoh.

• Service 135 withdrawn from Toa Payoh: Amended as Marine Parade ↺ MacPherson Estate
• Service 140 converted to semi-express service to Orchard Rd
• Service 141 converted to semi-express service to Shenton Way on Weekdays & Saturdays only
• Service 146 and 176 merged to form a new Service 146 from Toa Payoh ↔ Clementi
• Service 147 withdrawn from Toa Payoh: Amended as C’wealth Ave ↔ Potong Pasir
• Services 153 and 156 merged to form a new Service 153 from Bukit Merah ↔ Upp S’goon Rd (End)

No changes will be made to Services 73, 95, 137, 139, 143, 145, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 155, 157, 158 and 159 outside of Toa Payoh estate.

New Feeder Services:

Summary of Post-Amendment Bus Routes in Toa Payoh:

• 73: Toa Payoh – Yio Chu Kang – Old Upper Thomson Road (Loop)
• 95: Clementi – Toa Payoh – Airport Road
• 137: Toa Payoh – Upper Thomson Road – Mandai Lake Road (Loop)
• 139: Toa Payoh – Bencoolen Street – Bukit Merah
• 140: Toa Payoh – Scotts Road – Orchard Road (Loop)
• 141: Toa Payoh – Anson Road – Robinson Road (Loop)
• 143: Toa Payoh – Clemenceau Avenue – Penjuru Road
• 145: Toa Payoh – North Bridge Road – Kent Ridge
• 146: Toa Payoh – Shenton Way – Clementi
• 148: Toa Payoh – River Valley Rd – Commonwealth Avenue
• 149: Toa Payoh – Tanjong Katong Road – Changi Airport PTB (Loop)
• 150: Toa Payoh – Middle Road – Crawford Street
• 151: Toa Payoh – Kim Seng Road – Neil Road
• 152: Toa Payoh – Paya Lebar Road – Bedok
• 153: Bukit Merah – Toa Payoh – Upper Serangoon Road End
• 155: Toa Payoh – MacPherson Estate – Somapah
• 157: Toa Payoh – Bukit Timah Road – Jurong
• 158: Toa Payoh – Tanjong Katong Road – Chai Chee
• 159: Toa Payoh – Braddell Road – Ang Mo Kio

More detailed information for operational bus services can be found in the Historical Routes of Singapore Bus Services article.

Operating Schedules:

Gallery:

Chronological History of Toa Payoh Bus Services:

• 1971 (11 Apr):
  • Launch of 17 new services in Toa Payoh:
    • 140 to Prince Edward Rd via Orchard Rd, supplemented by 140A to Stamford Rd
    • 141 to Prince Edward Rd via Balestier Rd and Jln Besar; supplemented by 141A to Finlayson Green
    • 142 to Sth Canal Rd via Orchard Rd
    • 143 to Jurong Rd Mkt via Orchard Rd, Chinatown, World Trade Ctr and West Coast
    • 144 to C’wealth Ave/Nth Buona Vista Rd via Orchard Rd and Bukit Merah
    • 145 to Keppel Harbour via Balestier Rd, Bugis and Chinatown
    • 146 to Keppel Harbour via Boon Keng, Bugis and Shenton Way
    • 147 to C’wealth Ave/Nth Buona Vista Rd via Boon Keng, Bugis, Chinatown and Bukit Merah
    • 148 to C’wealth Ave/Nth Buona Vista Rd via Boon Keng, Bugis and River Valley
    • 149 to Prince Edward Rd via Novena and Little India, supplemented by 149A to Finlayson Green
    • 150 to Crawford St via Novena and Little India
    • 151 to Sth Canal Rd via Whitley Rd and Orchard Rd
    • 152 to Telok Kurau Rd via Bartley Rd, Paya Lebar Rd and East Coast Rd
    • 153 to Jln Bt Merah via Whitley Rd, Farrer Rd and Queensway
    • 154 between MacPherson & Jurong Ind Est via Toa Payoh estate
    • 155 to Upp Changi Rd/Bedok Rd via MacPherson Est and East Coast Rd, supplemented by 155A
    • 156 to Upp S’goon Rd End via Serangoon Gardens
• 1971 (22 Jun): Launch of Bus Service 157 to Jurong Ind Est
• 1971 (19 Jul): Launch of Bus Service 153A to Jln Bt Merah
• 1971 (2 Aug): Merger of roadside termini to Toa Payoh Town Ctr Ter
• 1971 (8 Aug): Launch of Bus Service 158 to Kg Chai Chee
• 1971 (10 Aug): Launch of Bus Service 159 to Outram Pk
• 1971 (21 Sep): Launch of Bus Service 139 to Lengkok Bahru
• 1972 (3 Jun): Launch of Bus Service 138 to St. Michael’s Est
• 1973 (25 Jun): Launch of Bus Service 137 to S’pore Zoo
• 1974 (3 Feb):
  • Route cutback for Bus Service 73 to Toa Payoh
  • Route amendment for Bus Service 95 to pass through Toa Payoh estate
  • Withdrawal of Bus Services 138, 141A, 149A, 153A & 159
  • Renumbering of Bus Services 140A & 155A to 135 & 136 respectively
• 1975: Withdrawal of Bus Service 136
• 1976: Withdrawal of Bus Service 142
• 1976 (13 Dec): Launch of Feeder Bus Service 230, serving Lor 8 Toa Payoh
• 1977 (25 Apr): Launch of Bus Service 159 to Ang Mo Kio
• 1978 (1 Jun): Route amendment for Bus Service 154 to skip Toa Payoh estate, plying Jln Toa Payoh instead
• 1980 (3 Feb): Withdrawal of Bus Service 149
• 1982: Withdrawal of Bus Service 144
• 1983 (25 Jun): Launch of Bus Service 149 to Changi Airport
• 1983 (26 Dec):
  • Route amendment for Bus Services 73, 139, 140, 141, 143, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 155, 157, 158 & 159 to Toa Payoh Bus Interchange
  • Route cutback for Bus Service 135 to MacPherson Est
  • Conversion of Bus Services 140 & 141 to semi-express bus services to Orchard Rd & Shenton Way respectively
  • Route amendment for Bus Service 147 to Potong Pasir
  • Conversion of Bus Service 151 to day service
  • Route extension for Bus Service 153 to Upp S’goon Rd End (via Toa Payoh estate)
  • Withdrawal of Bus Services 156 & 230
  • Launch of Feeder Bus Services 231, 232, 235, 237, 238 & 239, serving various neighbourhoods in Toa Payoh New Town
• 1984 (25 Nov): Launch of Bus Service 142 to Potong Pasir
• 1985 (15 Dec): Withdrawal of Feeder Bus Service 239
• 1985 (22 Dec): Launch of Bus Service 56 to Bishan
• 1988 (24 Jan): Withdrawal of Bus Services 140 & 141, following the opening of North South Line (NSL)
• 1988 (13 Mar): Withdrawal of Bus Service 95, following the launch of Bus Service 105 between Serangoon & Clementi via Toa Payoh
• 1989 (28 May): Withdrawal of Bus Service 151
• 1989 (27 Aug):
  • Withdrawal of Bus Service 146
  • Withdrawal of Bus Service 148, following the route extension for Bus Service 26 to Toa Payoh
• 1990 (4 Feb): Route cutback for Bus Service 158 to Serangoon
• 1990 (1 Mar): Launch of Bus Service 8 to Pasir Ris
• 1990 (2 Sep): Withdrawal of Bus Service 150, following the route extension for Bus Service 56 to Marina Ctr
• 1992 (3 May): Route cutback for Bus Service 163 to Toa Payoh
• 1992 (20 Sep): Withdrawal of Bus Service 137
• 1993 (23 May): Launch of Bus Service 90 to Paya Lebar Air Base
• 1993 (5 Dec): Withdrawal of Bus Service 149, following the route extension for Bus Service 31 to Toa Payoh
• 1998 (31 May): Relocation of Toa Payoh Bus Interchange to temporary site to facilitate redevelopment
• 1999 (28 Feb): Launch of Bus Service 88 to Pasir Ris
• 1999 (28 Aug): Launch of Express Bus Service 506 between Jurong East & Bedok via Toa Payoh
• 2000 (29 Oct): Withdrawal of Bus Service 152, following the route extension for Bus Service 28 to Toa Payoh
• 2002 (19 May):
  • Opening of Toa Payoh Integrated Transport Hub, the first air-conditioned bus interchange in Singapore
  • Withdrawal of Feeder Bus Service 237, following the route extension for Feeder Bus Service 232 to Lor 7 Toa Payoh
• 2005 (31 Jul): Launch of Bus Service 57 between Bishan & Bukit Merah via Lor 6 Toa Payoh
• 2005 (23 Oct): Launch of Bus Service 59 between Bishan & Changi Village via Lor 1 Toa Payoh
• 2007 (16 Jul): Launch of Premium Bus Service 535 to Fullerton Rd during weekday peak hours
• 2008 (7 Jul): Launch of Bus Service 128 between Ang Mo Kio & Shenton Way via Toa Payoh
• 2008 (8 Sep): Launch of Premium Bus Service 597 to Shenton Way during weekday peak hours
• 2009 (2 Feb): Route amendment for Bus Service 128 to skip Toa Payoh estate
• 2009 (16 Nov): Withdrawal of Premium Bus Service 597
• 2010 (31 Jan): Route amendment for Feeder Bus Service 235 to Toa Payoh East
• 2012 (11 Mar):
  • Route cutback for Feeder Bus Service 231 to Lor 5 Toa Payoh
  • Route extension for Feeder Bus Service 235 to Caldecott MRT station
• 2013 (9 Jun): Launch of Bus Service 141 to Lor 1 Geylang
• 2014 (14 Sep): Launch of Bus Service 139M to Jln Bahagia
• 2016 (28 Nov): Withdrawal of Premium Bus Service 535
• 2016 (18 Dec): Launch of Bus Service 129 between Tampines Concourse & St. Michael’s via Toa Payoh
• 2022 (11 Dec): Withdrawal of Bus Service 139M
• 2023: Launch of Feeder Bus Service 230 to Kim Keat Ave, Lor 8 Toa Payoh & Lor 7 Toa Payoh

External Links & References:

• SINGAPORE MONITOR: A more organised bus system for Toa Payoh (15 Dec 1983)
• SGWiki: Brochure for Toa Payoh New Bus Plan (1983)

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