Previously on Page 1:
- Current Bus Service Prefixes and Suffixes
- A, B, C, W — Short Trip Services
- E, e — Express Services
- G, W — Green Plate / White Plate (Directional Loop)
- M, X — ‘Modified’ / Route Variant
- T — Terminating
A, B, C, D, W — Short Trip Services
Suffix used for Short Trip Services. While A, B, and C are still in use, the D suffix was formerly used for Service 95D, back when Service 95 had 4 different short working trips. A few ‘W’ suffixes used to exist, the last of which was 67W which was withdrawn in 2021.
A, B, E, W, X, or # — Route Variant
Suffix used for route variants. Historically, route variants have been referred to using a variety of suffixes, such as A or B, W, X, or #. Most route variants have since been standardized to the ‘M‘ suffix. Historical examples:
| Service(s) | Description |
| 70X, 107X, 162X, 501X (1997 – 2003) | Replaces parent service on Weekday nights, Saturdays (Afternoon/evening till end of service), Sundays & Public Holidays (Full day). Renumbered to present-day Service 70M, 107M, 162M. |
| 850# (1988-1992), 853#, 925#, 961# | Replaces parent service on Sundays/Public Holidays (Full day). Renumbered to present-day Service 853M, 925M, 961M. |
| 16E (1994 – 1997), 85# (2010 – 2012), 502B & 518B (2005 – 2010) | Peak hour route variants, operating alongside parent service |
| 133A (1988 – 1989), 985W (2006 – 2007) | Operates as alternate departures of parent service |
| 214E & 214W (1978 – 1998), 103W (2003 – 2008) | Used to identify East/West. 103W later renumbered 103M. |
| 67W (2003 – 2021) | Short trip service on Sundays / Public Holidays |
BPS — Bus Parallel Service
October 2011 – November 2019
Prefix for Bus Parallel Services that aimed to reduced crowding on the rail network. Only one such service was introduced—Service BPS1, which connected Segar, Jelapang and Senja to Choa Chu Kang MRT/Interchange during weekday peak periods, reducing crowding on the Bukit Panjang LRT.
| Service | Route |
| BPS1 | [AM] Segar Road (Blk 457) → Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange [PM] Choa Chu Kang Ave 4 (Lot 1/Choa Chu Kang Stn) → Segar Road (Blk 485) |
C — Citybuzz
December 2004 – December 2006
Prefix for Citybuzz services that connected various tourist destinations in the City. Citybuzz services used to operate between 10:00am and 10:00pm daily, with frequencies of 10 to 15 minutes. These services have a flat fare of $1, payable by cash or EZ-Link card. A $5 Citybuzz Pass (Increased to $6 from 1 May 2006) offered unlimited daily rides on Citybuzz routes. All routes were eventually withdrawn due to low demand.
| Service | Route |
| C1 | [Orchard Route] Raffles Avenue ↺ Havelock Road (Loop) |
| C2 | [Chinatown Route] Raffles Avenue ↺ Kreta Ayer Road (Loop) |
| C3 | [Little India Route] Raffles Avenue ↺ Kitchener Road (Loop) |
CSS — City Shuttle Service
May 1975 – November 1997
Prefix for City Shuttle Services that connected various fringe car parks to destinations in the City. City Shuttle services were introduced in tandem with the Area Licensing Scheme, a form of congestion pricing for vehicles heading into the City. Motorists were encouraged to park at various fringe carparks and transfer to these buses for City destinations. Most routes were later withdrawn due to declining demand, and in 1997, the handful of remaining routes were renumbered as 60x services, dropping the CSS prefix.
EW, NS, NE — Special late-night residential services
Pre-2004 (TBC) – September 2015
Prefix for special late-night feeder bus routes that operated in tandem with extended train operating hours. These services operated during Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, Lunar New Year’s Eve, and special occasions like the Formula 1 weekend, and the opening ceremony of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Each route was numbered after the station code of the MRT station which it originated from. Services known to have been operated include:
- East West Line: EW1, EW2, EW5, EW23, EW24, EW27
- North South Line: NS16
- North East Line: NE12, NE13, NE14, NE16, NE17
These were replaced by extended operating hours of selected residential bus routes during special occasions.
CT — Chinatown Direct
January 2005 – June 2022
Prefix used for Chinatown Direct Bus Services, which connects selected residential estates to and from Chinatown. Introduced in January 2005.
All services last operated in 2020 and were withdrawn in 2022.
| Service | Route | Catchment Areas |
| CT8 | Ang Mo Kio Ave 9 ↔ Kg Bahru Ter | Yio Chu Kang, Ang Mo Kio |
| CT18 | Bedok North Ave 3 ↔ Kg Bahru Ter | Bedok North, Bedok Reservoir |
JK, MD, NB — On-Demand Public Bus trial
December 2018 – June 2019
Prefix for buses operating as part of the On-Demand Public Bus trial, conducted in three regions (JK = Joo Koon; MD = Marina-Downtown; NB = Night Bus: CBD to Bedok / Tampines). Each bus was assigned a prefix number whilst in operation, and passengers could book rides via a mobile app. See also:
- JK Prefix: On-Demand Public Bus (Joo Koon Area)
- MD Prefix: On-Demand Public Bus (Marina – Downtown Area)
- NB Prefix: On-Demand Public Bus (Night Bus – CBD to Bedok / Tampines)
M — Special feeder bus services
September 1989 – October 1997
Prefix for special feeder bus routes that connected newly-opened MRT stations to nearby housing estates. Four such routes were introduced: M1, M2, M3 and M4.
| Service | Route |
| M1 | North Buona Vista Rd ↺ Mount Sinai Dr (Loop) |
| M2 | Jln Kembangan ↺ Opera Estate (Loop) |
| M3 | Bedok Gardens ↺ Lucky Gardens (Loop) |
| M4 | Eunos Int ↺ Marine Parade Rd (Loop) |
M1 and M2 were renumbered to Service 92 and 42 respectively; M3 was withdrawn, and M4 was integrated into the present-day Service 15.
M — Former Nite Owl services
June 2000 – December 2006
Suffix for late-night bus routes operated by Singapore Bus Service (later SBS Transit) that connected City areas to residential estates. Service 16M, 36M, 65M, 85M, 89M, 143M, 147M, 162M, 174M, 181M existed in some form over this period. Some were withdrawn, and the remainder were reorganised into Nite Owl 1N to 8N from December 2006 onwards.
P — Peak Period Short Services
April 2014 – January 2017
Suffix for supplementary bus routes which duplicated existing feeder bus services, operating between bus interchanges and residential estates. This short-term initiative under the Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP) is intended to tap into the resources of Private Bus Operators to augment the resources of the Public Transport Operators (PTOs).
A total of 14 such services were introduced. These were later absorbed into their parent services at the end of their contract terms and taken over by PTOs.
R (suffix) — Resorts World Sentosa Express Services
January 2010 – June 2022
Suffix for express bus services that served Resorts World Sentosa.
| Service | Route |
| 188R | Choa Chu Kang Int ↔ Resorts World Sentosa |
| 963R | Woodlands Int ↔ Resorts World Sentosa |
RWS — Resorts World Sentosa services
January 2010 – Present
Prefix for dedicated bus routes serving Resorts World Sentosa. Included in this list as this route is no longer operated by Public Transport Operators.
- RWS8: Resorts World Sentosa – Telok Blangah Rd (Loop), serving the HarbourFront area. Formerly SMRT Buses; operations transferred to Tong Tar Transport Service on 1 July 2016.
- RWS88: Resorts World Sentosa – Coleman St (Loop), serving the City Hall area. Withdrawn in December 2010.
SN — SMRT Nightbus
July 2000 – July 2003
Prefix for late-night bus routes introduced by SMRT Corporation Ltd in July 2000 that connected City areas to residential estates. Subcontracted to private bus operator and operated with private buses. Not to be confused with TIBS’ NightRider network; for SMRT and TIBS only merged in December 2001. Three routes were introduced: SN10, SN20, SN30. All were later integrated into TIBS’ NightRider services and withdrawn.
| Service | Route |
| SN10 | Tomlinson Rd (Regent S’pore) → Pasir Ris Central (opp Pasir Ris Town Pk) |
| SN20 | Victoria St (Bugis Stn) → Woodlands Ave 3 (Opp Marsiling Stn) |
| SN30 | Tomlinson Rd (Regent S’pore) → Boon Lay Way (Boon Lay Stn) |
N (prefix) — Night
September 2021 – June 2022
Prefix used for reorganized Night bus routes under the Sembawang–Yishun Bus Package which were never launched.
| Service | Route |
| N1, N2 | – |
N (suffix) — Nite Owl
December 2006 – June 2022
Suffix used for SBS Transit-operated Nite Owl bus routes. All services last operated in 2020 and were withdrawn in 2022.
NR — NightRider
March 2000 – June 2022
Prefix used for SMRT-operated NightRider bus routes. All services last operated in 2020 and were withdrawn in 2022.
SS — (Temporary) Shuttle Services
December 1987 – March 1996
Prefix for temporary shuttle services between New Towns and nearby MRT stations while the North South and East West MRT lines were progressively extended to the heartlands. Most routes operated only for several months, until they were replaced by new trunk or feeder bus connections to their nearest MRT station. The longest-surviving route, Service SS7, connected Woodlands and Choa Chu Kang from 1990 till 1996 when the NSL’s Woodlands extension opened.
| Service | Route |
| SS1 | Yio Chu Kang Ter ↺ Yishun Ring Rd (Loop) |
| SS2 | Clementi Int ↺ Jurong East St 32 (Loop) |
| SS3 | Clementi Int ↺ Bt Batok West Ave 7 (Loop) |
| SS4 | Tampines Int ↺ New Upp Changi Rd (Tanah Merah Stn) (Loop) |
| SS5 | Tampines Int ↺ New Upp Changi Rd (Tanah Merah Stn) (Loop) |
| SS6 | Simei Rd ↺ New Upp Changi Rd (Tanah Merah Stn) (Loop) |
| SS7 | Woodlands Int ↔ Choa Chu Kang Int |
SS — (Supplementary) TIBS Nightrider (SS1 / SS2)
May 2000 – December 2000
Prefix for short-lived supplementary TIBS Nightrider routes. Only two such routes were introduced: Service SS1 and SS2.
| Service | Route |
| SS1 | Marina Ctr Ter ↺ Aljunied Rd (Loop) |
| SS2 | Marina Ctr Ter ↺ East Coast Park Service Rd (Loop) |
Summary: Legacy Bus Service Prefixes and Suffixes
- A, B, C, D, W — Short Trip Services
- A, B, E, W, X, or # — Route Variant
- BPS — Bus Parallel Service
- C — Citybuzz
- CT — Chinatown Direct Service
- CSS — City Shuttle Service
- EW, NS, NE — Special late-night residential services
- JK, MD, NB — On-Demand Public Bus trial
- M — Special feeder bus services
- M — Former Nite Owl services
- N — Nite Owl services
- NR — Night Rider services
- R — Resorts World Sentosa express services
- RWS — Resorts World Sentosa services
- SN — SMRT Nightbus
- SS — (Temporary) Shuttle Services
- SS — (Supplementary) TIBS Nightrider (SS1 / SS2)
External Links & References
- History of Bus Services – SGWiki (Accessed 25 Sep 2020)
- Legacy bus guides and literature
Seems dumb to have 961m replace 961 on sun and ph, just confusing
IIRC, SS6 went to Pasir Ris.
I note the omission of service 42 and 92 from the T suffix – from what I remember those two routes also operate on a continuous-loop manner?
92 does not have a T variant. However idk if 42 has
Actually might have
oh yeah it does
from ltg: Service 92T buses will terminate at Ghim Moh Ter