Bus Interchanges and Terminals

In Singapore, a Bus interchange or Bus terminal is a public transport facility that functions as the start and endpoint of any bus route. This definition can be extended to any layover point that does not cause an obstruction to traffic. There are currently 26 bus interchanges and 19 bus terminals in operation.

Bishan Interchange - Bus Park
Bishan Interchange – Bus Park

Bus interchanges and termini serve multiple roles in Singapore. They are used as layover points for various bus services, and regionalization of bus terminating points allow for easy transfer between multiple bus services. Drivers may also swap buses at termini.

Types of bus interchanges and terminals:

  • Bus interchanges
  • Temporary bus interchanges
  • Integrated transport hubs
  • Bus terminals / Bus parks
  • Roadside bus terminals
  • Bus depots

Bus Interchanges

A Bus interchange (referred to as a Bus station outside of Singapore) is a large facility handling many bus routes and usually offers connections to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network. As such, they are an integral part of Singapore’s hub-and-spoke public transportation system, where commuters frequently rely on buses for last-mile connections from Town Centres to their homes.

Bus Interchange B/s code Bus services Service count
Ang Mo Kio 54009 22, 24, 25, 73, 86, 130, 133, 135, 136, 138, 166, 169, 261, 262, 265, 269 15
Bedok 84009 7, 9, 14, 16/16M, 17, 18, 26, 30, 30e, 32, 33, 35/35M, 38, 40, 60, 66, 69, 87, 155, 168, 196, 197, 222, 225G/225W, 228, 229, 401, 854, 854e 31
Bishan 53009 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 410G/410W 10
Boon Lay 84009 30, 79, 154, 157, 172, 174, 174e, 178, 179, 180, 181/181M, 187, 192, 193, 194, 198, 199, 240, 241, 242, 243G/243W, 246, 249, 251, 252, 405 26
Bukit Batok 43009 61, 77, 106, 173, 177, 189, 852, 941, 944, 945, 947, 990, 991 13
Bukit Merah 10009 5, 16/16M, 57, 123, 131/131M, 132, 139, 153, 167, 176, 198, 272, 273, 851 14
Bukit Panjang 45009 176, 180, 920, 922, 970, 972/972M, 973, 975, 976, 979 10
Choa Chu Kang 44009 67, 172, 188, 188e, 188R, 190, 300, 301, 302, 307, 925, 927, 976, 983, 985, 991 16
Clementi 17009 7, 14, 96, 99, 147, 156, 165, 166, 173, 175, 196, 282, 284, 285 14
Compassvale 67759 110, 374 2
Eunos  82009 60, 61, 63/63M, 76, 93, 94, 150, 154 8
HarbourFront  14009 65, 80, 93, 123M, 124, 188, 188e, 855, 963, 963e 10
Hougang Central 64009 27, 51, 74, 74e, 89, 89e, 102, 107/107M, 112, 113, 116, 132, 147, 151, 151e, 153, 161, 165, 324, 325, 329 21
Joo Koon 24009 99, 182/182M, 253, 254, 255, 257, 258, 974 8
Jurong East 28009 41, 49, 51, 52, 66, 97, 97e, 98/98M, 105, 143/143M, 160/160M, 183, 197, 333, 334, 335, 506 17
Pasir Ris 77009 3, 4N, 5, 6, 12, 12e, 15, 17, 21, 58, 68, 88, 354, 358, 359, 403, 518, 518A 17
Punggol 65009 3, 34, 43/43M, 43e, 50, 62, 82, 83, 84, 85, 117, 118, 119, 136, 381, 382G/382W, 384, 386 18
Sembawang 58009 117, 167, 859/859A/859B, 882, 883/883M, 980, 981 7
Sengkang 67009 80, 83, 86, 87, 156, 159, 163, 371, 372, 965 10
Serangoon 66009 100, 101, 103, 105, 109, 158, 315, 317 8
Tampines 75009 3, 4, 8, 10, 19, 20, 22, 23, 28, 29, 31, 37, 38, 46, 65, 67, 68, 69, 72, 81, 127, 291, 292, 293, 969 25
Tampines Concourse 75019 18, 39, 129, 298 4
Toa Payoh 52009 8, 26, 28, 31, 73, 88, 90, 139/139M, 141, 142, 143, 145, 155, 157, 159, 163, 231, 232, 235, 238 20
Woodlands 46009 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900/900A, 901/901M, 902, 903/903M, 904, 911, 912/912M, 913/913M, 925/925M, 926, 950, 960, 960e, 961/961M, 962, 963, 963e, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 29
Yio Chu Kang 55509 13, 70/70M, 71, 72, 76, 162/162M, 825, 860 8
Yishun 59009 39, 85, 103, 171, 800, 803, 804, 805, 806, 807, 811, 812, 851, 851e, 852, 853/853M, 854, 854e, 855, 856, 857, 859, 860, AC7 24
 

In line with BCM definitions, short-trip service & supplementary services are counted together with their parent services as 1 bus route. An exception is made for Bus Service 123M at HarbourFront. Bidirectional feeder services (e.g. Bus 410G/410W) are counted as one service.

Integrated Transport Hub (ITH)

Several bus interchanges are designated as Integrated Transport Hubs, which have fully air-conditioned passenger concourses with links to rail stations. These are often built within commercial and residential buildings as part of an integrated development.

At present, the various ITHs in operation are as follows, in order of opening:

  • Toa Payoh (May 2002)
  • Sengkang (Jan 2003)
  • Ang Mo Kio (Apr 2007)
  • Boon Lay (Dec 2009)
  • Serangoon (Sep 2011)
  • Clementi (Nov 2011)
  • Bedok (Nov 2014)
  • Joo Koon (Nov 2015)
  • Bukit Panjang (Sep 2017)
  • Yishun (Sep 2019)

Bus Terminals

A Bus Terminal is a smaller facility used as a regional terminating point for bus services. While the majority are dedicated facilities, there are a handful of ‘roadside’ bus terminals with minimal infrastructure. Some bus terminals do not allow for passenger boarding and alighting.

Bus Terminal B/s code Bus services Service count
Beach Station 14539 123, Sentosa Bus A, Sentosa Bus B, Sentosa Bus C 4
Buona Vista 11379 32, 48, 74, 74e, 91, 145, 185, 191, 200 9
Changi Airport PTB2 95129 24, 27, 34, 36, 53, 110, 858 7
Changi Business Park 97009 47, 118 2
Changi Village 99009 2, 29, 59, 109 4
Gali Batu 44989 75, 184 2
Ghim Moh 11009 92/92M, 100, 111 3
JB Sentral 47711 160, 170X, 950, other JB local bus routes 3
Kampong Bahru 10499 2, 12, 12e, 54, 120, 121, 122, 174, 174e, 190, CT8, CT18 12
Kent Ridge 16009 10, 33, 95, 151, 151e, 200, 201, NUS B1, NUS B2, NUS C, NUS BTC 11
Larkin 46239 170, other JB local bus routes 1
Lorong 1 Geylang 80009 11, 140, 141, 175, 853, 961/961M, 980, 985 8
Marina Centre 02099 1N, 2N, 3N, 4N, 5N, 6N, 56, 75, 77, 97, 97e, 195, 960, 960e, NR2, NR5, NR8 17
Queen Street 01109 170, CW2, SJE 3
Resorts World Sentosa 14519 188R, 963R, NR1, NR6, RWS8, Sentosa Bus A, Sentosa Bus C 7
Saint Michael’s 52499 21, 124, 125, 129, 131, 186 6
Shenton Way 03239 70, 106, 107, 130, 133, 162, 186, 400, 970 9
Sims Place 80289 64, 134, 137 3
Tuas 25009 192, 193, 247, 248 4
Upper East Coast 55509 13, 25, 43, 45, 46, 55, 137, 506, 853M 9
 

In line with BCM definitions, short-trip service & supplementary services are counted together with their parent services as 1 bus route. An exception is made for Bus Service 170X at JB Sentral, and 853M at Upper East Coast.

In addition, some bus depots are used as route termini of bus services, as follows:

Bus Depot B/s code Bus services Service count
Ang Mo Kio 45, 265, 268 3
Bedok North 48 1
Soon Lee 185, 502/502A 2
 

Bus termini used only by private buses:

Bus Terminal Bus services Service count
Little India Private buses to/from workers’ dormitories –
Prince George’s Park NUS A1, NUS A2, NUS D2, NUS BTC1 4
 

Others

Upcoming Bus Interchanges & Terminals:

Works in Progress / Construction Tenders Issued

Under Planning

* – As per URA Draft Master Plan 2019
^ – As per Land Transport Master Plan 2040

List of Bus Terminals in Johor Bahru:

Terminals Served by Singapore Public Transport Operators

For a full list of bus terminals served by Malaysian bus operators, check out Other Bus Terminals In Johor Bahru.

List of abolished Bus Interchanges and Terminals:

Italics – Other bus operators

In addition, several bus services terminate at bus stops which do not count as bus termini. These are:

History:

In the past, private bus companies built and operated their own bus termini. They were usually located along the roads and were plenty in number, adding to the difficulty of integrating various different bus routes. In the 1970s, smaller-scaled bus terminals were built, most of them by the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB). The private bus companies would then rent these terminals for thousands of dollars per month.

In the late seventies, the construction of new towns resulted in the idea of regional bus interchanges to take over the roles of the bus terminals. This would improve efficiency and reduce overlapping of bus routes. In 1978, the Jurong Bus Interchange became Singapore’s first bus interchange. The early bus interchanges were mainly shared by the SBS, TIBS, SSB and Scheme B bus operators. Until the completion of the Woodlands Bus Interchange in 1996 by the Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC), all the early bus interchanges were designed and built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), which was also the main architect of bus stops and other facilities for the public transport.

With the construction of the MRT in the 1980s, bus transport in Singapore slowly adapted in favour of centralised bus interchanges that provide connections to the MRT, and the use of multiple feeder bus services to link up different parts of new towns with MRT stations. Also in 1983, the Government and its statutory boards took over five bus interchanges and more than 50 roadside termini from SBS.

In the modern era, bus interchanges were further redesigned to provide greater comfort and integration. Toa Payoh and Sengkang Bus Interchanges were among the first to be fully air-conditioned and fully integrated with their basement MRT stations. Sengkang Interchange was also the first to integrate residential development with bus interchanges by the use of fully enclosed bus interchanges, i.e. the entire interchange occupies the ground floors of the building, a concept previously used extensively in land-starved Hong Kong. Integrated Public Transport Hubs have been built at Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Serangoon, Boon Lay, Clementi and Joo Koon, and more are expected to be completed in the next decade, such as Bukit Panjang, Hougang, Jurong East, Marina South and Yishun.

Today, bus interchanges are designed and constructed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), but are managed by the bus operator which operates the majority of bus services from the interchange (and with the rollout of the Bus Contracting Model, bus interchanges/terminals are allocated to bus operators). Some bus terminals do not allow for passenger boarding and alighting.

In the early 2010s, bus interchanges have been used for overnight parking of buses due to lack of parking space within bus depots, but the practice has been curtailed with the construction of more bus parks.

Facilities:

Bus interchanges (and some terminals) have one or more of such facilities:

  • Interchange Office / Passenger Service Office
    Staffed by the bus operators, this office is the management center of any bus interchange. It handles passenger inquiries, timekeeping for bus services and various other interchange operations. They usually have a computer terminal for drivers to clock the start and end of their scheduled trips.
  • TransitLink Ticket Office
    Staffed by TransitLink personnel, this office mainly handles contactless card transactions among other services.
  • Drivers’ Lounge / Briefing Room
    Where bus drivers take a break before their next departure.
  • NTWU Canteen
    The National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) manages a group of canteens known as NTWU canteens which are commonly found at major bus interchanges. They provide healthy and low-cost meals for bus drivers, and are also open to members of the public.
  • Parking lots for the layover of buses
  • Waiting berths
    Berths are pick-up areas for buses. Most major interchanges have three services assigned to a berth, with queuing areas for passengers.
  • Alighting berths
    Buses terminating at the interchange drop off passengers here before heading to park
  • Information board
    Public transport operators design various information boards for their interchanges such as locality maps, bus service maps and bus information.
  • Bus arrival displays
    This electronic bus arrival board contains timings of the next scheduled bus departure.
  • Service guide rack
    The service guide rack is stocked with paper guides containing details of various bus services.
  • Retail Stalls
    In recent years, bus operators have opened various stalls at their bus interchanges to increase profits by renting them out to vendors. Food stalls are among the most common.
  • Toilets
    Some bus interchanges charge a small fee for members of the public.
  • Nursing Rooms
  • Bicycle Racks

11 thoughts on “Bus Interchanges and Terminals”

  • Useyourbrain
    15 November 2020 at 4:49 PM
    Permalink

    LTA should built a new ITH along Woodlands North and house cross-border service & new feeder service.Marina South doesn’t need a ITH..Just reroute a few bus service there to MRT should be enough.

    Reply

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