Bus services provided by Beeline, GrabShuttle and GrabShuttle Plus will cease after 31 December 2019. While the first two offer bus services with fixed routes and timings based on user suggestions and demand, GrabShuttle Plus offers on-demand point-to-point services.
On-Demand Bus Services have been fraught with uncertainty in Singapore. Earlier this year, the Land Transport Authority ended its 6-month trial of On-Demand Public Buses, citing high operating costs. GrabShuttle Plus, which operated minibuses in the East and Northeast since November 2017, will also end its service after a 2 year stint. A local private bus company also attempted to launch On-Demand Bus app SEATS in 2018, but the platform did not take off with users. The app and website has since been shut down.
What comes as a surprise is the end of Beeline, which was set up by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) in 2015. The open crowd-sourced bus service platform taps on data analytics and community demand to create direct bus routes with fixed timings. GrabShuttle, which operates on the Beeline platform, is terminating its services as well. In 2017, Beeline reported having 130 routes and 19,000 monthly bookings.
Meanwhile, bus pooling continues to be offered by ShareTransport, while ComfortConnect, an on-demand bus service by ComfortDelGro Bus was recently launched on a trial basis.
Transfer of GrabShuttle Routes to ShareTransport
On 18 December 2019, HDT Singapore announced a collaboration with ShareTransport to operate former GrabShuttle routes on the ShareTransport Platform from January 2020.
Affected GrabShuttle commuters may download the ShareTransport App to continue their travels.
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