Express Bus Services

Fares: Fares for Express services follow the current distance-based fare scheme (DBF) for Express routes.

Express Bus Services are bus services that contain express sectors, by skipping bus stops or travelling by expressways, saving commuting time as compared to regular trunk services. These services charge Express fares as they provide added convenience and travel time savings.

Three main types of Express services exist. Full Day express services offer connections from housing estates to the City, or between housing estates. Limited-stop express services closely mirror their parent route but call at fewer bus stops along the way. Finally, CBD express services are the most numerous, connecting housing estates to the Central Business District (CBD) and operating only during the peak hours.

Express Bus Services are not to be confused with designated trunk bus services with express sectors. Many trunk services plying the Tampines Expressway and Bukit Timah Expressway / Pan-Island Expressway corridors are designated as trunk routes rather than Express routes.

History

The first-known express bus services began operating in 1997 under the 5xx numbering series. These services complimented the MRT network by providing journeys with comparable/faster journey time by using expressways, many of which serve between the City and housing districts.

From the above list, only Express Services 502, 506 and 518 survive until today. Many were withdrawn as part of MRT Rationalization exercises (due to MRT duplication) or merged with existing routes by the year 2004.

In 2005, SBS Transit introduced a series of express services branded these as Fast-Forward routes, duplicating existing trunk bus routes with express sectors. These services operate during peak hours, calling at stops of higher demand and skipping sections of route for faster point-to-point travel. SMRT Buses introduced similar routes in 2006 to 2009.

Between 2010 and 2016, new express routes were introduced to connect housing estates to the Central Business District (CBD) during peak hours, competing alongside Premium Buses. Part of these services were introduced under the BSEP scheme, including City Direct routes.

With the implementation of the Bus Contracting Model, LTA introduced several limited-stop express bus services alongside regular trunk services, operating at regular intervals daily. However, this proved to be costly to operate and the operating hours were reduced in February 2020, with the exception of Express 147e which was withdrawn and Express 43e which was introduced in September 2019 as a weekday peak hour express service. Express 167e was withdrawn in December 2020, after operating for a little over 2 years.

Nomenclature and numbering of Express Bus Services (apart from 502, 506, 518) were formalised on 12 August 2018, discontinuing SBS Transit’s Fast-Forward branding.

In December 2021, Express 506 was amended to Serangoon Bus Interchange from Jurong East Bus Interchange, instead of Upper East Coast Bus Terminal as part of the Downtown Line 3 Bus Service Rationalisations.

Pros:

The point-to-point nature of express routes provide convenience and encourage commuters to rely on them rather than taking a train, reducing commuters’ reliance on the rail network. For bus operators, the decreased run-time of Express routes translates to fewer buses being deployed compared to an ordinary route over the same distance. By carrying passengers over longer distances at a time, this reduces the strain of boarding and alighting activities at en route stops, which take up a lot of time especially during peak hours.

Cons:

While “Express” services incorporate express or limited-stop sectors, they may not offer significantly faster journey times, with Express services such as 854E duplicating their parent routes to a large extent but charge higher fares under the Express designation. Sometimes, commuters are forced to take Express services within their non-Express sectors as existing bus routes do not provide direct connections to their destination. For example, Express 506 offers the fastest route between Bedok Reservoir and Upper East Coast without transfers (prior to the launch of Bus Service 46), but alternative routes would require multiple transfers between other bus services.

Former Express Services

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