SBS Transit Bus Service 196 is a trunk route running between Bedok Int and Clementi Int, passing through Marine Parade/Crescent, Mountbatten, Shenton Way, Bukit Merah, Commonwealth, Dover Road and AYE. It shares the Bedok-Clementi route termini with Services 7 and 14.
Route Overview | ||||||||||||
Route | Bedok Bus Interchange ↔ Clementi Bus Interchange | |||||||||||
Passes Through | Marine Parade Rd, Mountbatten Rd, Nicoll Highway, Jln Bukit Merah, Queensway, Dover Rd | |||||||||||
Route Length | Towards Clementi: 31.5 km | Towards Bedok: 31.1 km | ||||||||||
Travelling Time | 125 mins | |||||||||||
Operator Information | ||||||||||||
BCM Route Package | Bedok Bus Package | |||||||||||
Current Operator | SBS Transit Ltd | |||||||||||
Current Depot | Bedok North Bus Depot (BNDEP) Bukit Batok Bus Depot (BBDEP) |
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Current Fleet | Single-deck & Double-deck buses | |||||||||||
Operating Hours | ||||||||||||
Departure Times from Bedok |
Daily | |||||||||||
05:30 – 23:15 | ||||||||||||
Departure Times from Clementi |
Daily | |||||||||||
05:45 – 23:45 | ||||||||||||
Operating Frequency | ||||||||||||
From Bedok |
6:30am–8.30am | 8.31am–4.59pm | 5.00pm–7.00pm | After 7.00pm | ||||||||
Weekdays | 7 – 8 mins | 8 – 13 mins | 11 – 14 mins | 14 – 23 mins | ||||||||
Saturdays | 11 – 15 mins | 11 – 16 mins | 15 mins | 13 – 22 mins | ||||||||
Sundays / Public Holidays | 10 – 14 mins | 13 – 16 mins | 16 mins | 14 – 20 mins | ||||||||
From Clementi |
6:30am–8.30am | 8.31am–4.59pm | 5.00pm–7.00pm | After 7.00pm | ||||||||
Weekdays | 11 – 12 mins | 5 – 12 mins | 8 – 10 mins | 11 – 24 mins | ||||||||
Saturdays | 11 – 14 mins | 11 – 19 mins | 13 – 15 mins | 12 – 23 mins | ||||||||
Sundays / Public Holidays | 12 – 13 mins | 11 – 16 mins | 15 – 16 mins | 14 – 21 mins | ||||||||
Fare Information |
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Fare | Charges regular distance fares |
Service 196 is a inter-town route connecting residents of Clementi, Dover, Bukit Merah, Mountbatten and Marine Parade to the City areas of Outram Park, Shenton Way and Nicoll Highway. The route experiences high demand throughout the day owing to inter-town connections, and is highest during the peak hours as a heavily-used route between Shenton Way and Marine Parade prior to the opening of the Thomson-East Coast Line Stage 4 in June 2024.
MRT Stations Served:
- EW5 Bedok
- TE28 Siglap
- TE27 Marine Terrace
- TE26 Marine Parade
- CC7 Mountbatten
- CC5 Nicoll Highway
- CC3 Esplanade
- EW14NS26 Raffles Place
- TE19 Shenton Way
- EW15 Tanjong Pagar
- EW16NE3TE17 Outram Park
- EW20 Commonwealth
- EW21CC22 Buona Vista
- EW23 Clementi
Special Departures:
- Marine Parade Rd (Lagoon View) → Clementi Int
Weekdays: 06:27, 07:57 & 08:20 - Shenton Way (Opp MAS Bldg) → Clementi Int
Weekdays: 05:30, 05:40, 05:50 & 06:00
Saturdays: 05:30, 05:44 & 05:58
Sundays / Public Holidays: 05:40 & 05:56 - Queensway (Blk 19) → Bedok Int
Weekdays: 06:05 & 07:20 - Anson Road (Hub Synergy Pt) → Bedok Int
Weekdays: 18:22 - Fullerton Rd (Fullerton Sq) → Bedok Int
Weekdays: 08:38
Short Trip Service
- Service 196A: Bedok Int → Shenton Way (Opp MAS Bldg)
Weekdays: 07:09 - Service 196A (Special Departures): Marine Parade Rd (Lagoon View) → Shenton Way (Opp MAS Bldg)
Weekdays: 06:37 – 10:43
Route Variant:
- Express 196e: Marine Parade Rd ⇄ Shenton Way/Anson Road
Weekdays Peak Hours, except Public Holidays
Gallery:
Operator History:
- 1971 – 1973: United Bus Company Pte Ltd
- 1973 – 2001: Singapore Bus Services Ltd
- 2001 – Present: SBS Transit Ltd
The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed under the Bedok Bus Package, in which the negotiated contract term was extended by an undisclosed number of years from 2023.
History:
- 1971 (11 Apr): Introduced between Gagak Selari Barat Ter and Jln Samulun Ter under 1971 Bus Reorganisation
- 1974 (03 Feb): Extended to Prince Edward Ter under 1974 Bus Rationalisation
- 1976 (09 May): Amended to ply Jurong Pier Rd in both directions
- 1977 (17 May): Amended to ply Commonwealth Ave Extension and Nth Buona Vista Rd towards Jln Samulun Ter
- 1978 (01 Jun): Amended to Jurong Int
- 1979 (11 Feb): Amended to ply the extended Shenton Way towards Jurong Int, skipping Parsi Rd and Anson Rd
- 1980 (20 Jan): Amended to ply Spottiswoode Park Rd with the partial conversion of Cantonment Rd to one-way traffic
- 1981 (11 Oct): Serves new staggered bus stop outside Tunas Bldg along Anson Rd, skipping the bus stop outside Intl Plaza
- 1984 (16 Sep): Integrated with Service 15 and extended to Marine Parade Ter
- 1986 (01 Jun): Skips abolished bus stop before Ayer Rajah Rd along Clementi Rd
- 1987 (01 Nov): Amended to ply Eu Tong Sen St towards Marine Parade Ter to facilitate the second stage of road expansion along New Bridge Rd
- 1988 (06 Jun): First bus from Marine Parade Ter brought forward to 0545 hrs daily; Last bus from Jurong Int revised to 2345 hrs daily
- 1990 (01 Jul): Amended to Boon Lay Int with the closure of Jurong Int
- 1991 (03 Nov): Serves additional bus stop after Jln Bt Merah along Kg Bahru Rd
- 1992 (28 Jun): Shortened to Buona Vista Ter under TransitLink Network Integration Exercise Phase 8
- 1992 (15 Nov): Extended to Clementi Int
- 1994 (29 May): Serves 2 new pairs of bus stops outside The Concourse, outside Golden Mile Twr and outside and opposite Suntec City along Nicoll Highway
- 2000: Amended to ply Esplanade Dr, skipping Connaught Dr/Empress Pl
- 2001 (16 Sep): Extended to Bedok Int with the closure of Marine Parade Ter
- 2002: Serves additional bus stop before Hospital Dr along Eu Tong Sen St
- 2004 (20 Apr): Amended to ply Mountbatten Rd, Geylang Rd, Kallang Rd, Victoria St, Jln Sultan and Beach Rd to facilitate reinstatement works for the collapsed Nicoll Highway
- 2004 (06 Dec): Amended to ply the reinstated Nicoll Highway, skipping Mountbatten Rd, Geylang Rd, Kallang Rd, Victoria St, Jln Sultan and Beach Rd
- 2005 (02 Jul): Serves the bus stop outside Fullerton Square along Fullerton Rd and an additional bus stop opposite AIA Tower along Robinson Rd with the abolition of the bus stop outside Clifford Ctr along Collyer Quay
- 2006: Serves merged bus stop opposite Buona Vista Stn along North Buona Vista Rd with the closure of the staggered bus stop
- 2006: Serves additional bus stop outside Victoria Sch along Marine Parade Rd
- 2006 (29 Oct): Amended to Clementi Temp Int
- 2006 (03 Dec): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus service (WAB)
- 2011 (19 Nov): Amended to Bedok Temp Int
- 2011 (26 Nov): Amended to Clementi Integrated Transport Hub
- 2014 (10 Aug): Serves new bus stop opposite Blk 2 along Mountbatten Rd
- 2014 (30 Nov): Amended to Bedok Integrated Transport Hub
- 2017 (26 Nov): Skips abolished bus stop before Hospital Dr along Kg Bahru Rd
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High chance Blue Ribbon will conduct a Rationalisation for 196 due to heavy TEL duplication. I have an idea for 196: after Bedok South Ave 1, go straight to ECP, skipping the whole East Coast section of the route. 196 can exit ECP to Rochor Road, rest of route unaffected.
Lost sectors of Mountbatten Road covered by 14 at least.
Anyone got any suggestions improve this?
I was wondering if there are any plans to decommission the 196 bus line since the opening of the TEL4 MRT line. Any information about that ? The TEL4 is not practical for me and would prefer using the 196.
196? Not sure. The ‘e’ variant? Definitely.
196 would have been the best bus to shenton way area if it does not spend so much time in east coast area. maybe you could amend route 196 to go straight to shenton way without spending so much time in east coast area because sbs service 197 already serves the east coast area from bedok.
196 travels to mountbatten rd to shenton way and is a important part not served by other buses directly. There is already 30 that takes the express route to keppel rd. Which is near shenton way, otherwise tel would provide the coverage
the departure at clementi interchange has never been quite punctual. may bus 196 operation look into that??