Historical Electronic Display Systems (EDS) Programming

Main Article: Electronic Display Systems (EDS) Programming

This is a sub-section of the main article on the different formats of EDS display for public bus services in Singapore above, covering disused / defunct formats of EDS displays due to the discontinuation of bus routes and transfer of bus routes between operators.

1. Singapore Bus Services (SBS) / SBS Transit (1996 – Present):

a) Legacy EDS Display Formats on Non-Wheelchair Accessible Buses (1996 – 2005):

During the era of non-wheelchair accessible buses under SBS / SBS Transit operations, only selected fleets of buses under the operator were retrofitted with EDS systems since 1996, as indicated below:

• Volvo B10M Mark IV (Duple Metsec “Superlong”) demonstrator unit (SBS997A)
• Volvo B10MA articulated demonstrator unit (SBS998Y)
• Mercedes-Benz O405G demonstrator unit (SBS999U)
• Volvo B10BLE diesel demonstrator unit (SBS1688K)
• Scania L94UB demonstrator unit (SBS2888T)
• Volvo B10M Mark IV (Duple Metsec DM3500) production unit – SBS2779A
• Volvo B10TL demonstrator unit (SBS9888Y)
• Dennis Trident production units (SBS9671E – SBS9690A)*
• Volvo B10TL production unit – SBS9810X*
• Volvo B10TL (CDGE) demonstrator unit (SBS9889U)*

SBS Transit Volvo B10M MkIV Superlong (SBS997A) - Service 83

SBS Transit Volvo B10MA Mark IV (SBS998Y) - Service 18

SBS Transit Mercedes-Benz O405G (SBS999U) - Service 18

SBST Volvo B10BLE Demonstrator Unit (SBS1688K)

SBS Transit Scania L94UB (SBS2888T) - Awaiting scrap at Kiat Lee

SBS Transit Scania L94UB (SBS2888T) - Training Bus

SBS Transit Volvo B10M Mark IV DM3500 (SBS2779A) - Service 107

SBS9888Y on 502A in SBS Transit livery (Image credits: China Motor Bus Memorial Page)

SBS Transit Dennis Trident (SBS9689E) - Service 165

SBST Volvo B10TL "Super Olympian" (SBS9810X) - Service 28

SBS Transit Volvo B10TL CDGE (SBS9889U) - Service 166, prior to refurbishment

*When the EDS displays for these buses were replaced in the 2010s, their EDS display formats were standardised with those on the newly procured wheelchair-accessible buses.

The following defunct bus routes saw regular deployments of the above non-wheelchair accessible buses with EDS displays. Other defunct bus routes with uncommon deployments of the above buses, as well as discontinued or transferred bus services which survived into the era of wheelchair-accessible buses with EDS displays from 2007, are excluded from the table below for simplicity.

b) Revised EDS Display Formats on Wheelchair-Accessible Buses (2007 – Present):

Since the procurement of the Scania K230UB wheelchair-accessible single-deck buses by SBS Transit in 2007, the Electronic Display System (EDS) became the default method of display indicating the service, destination and roads served by their bus routes for other bus models purchased since, replacing traditional plastic destination plates (colloquially referred to as “destos”). Simultaneously, a new standardised EDS display format was also implemented by the operator to distinguish their bus services from SMRT bus routes, which have switched to a full fleet of buses with EDS displays under its predecessor, Trans-Island Bus Services (Tibs), by 2001.

In the 2010s, all Dennis Trident double-deck buses using the old Transit Media EDS displays that were initially retrofitted during their initial registrations in 2001 were replaced with newer displays similar to those found on wheelchair-accessible buses, alongside the Volvo B10TL Volgren production unit (SBS9810X) and Volvo B10TL CDGE demonstrator unit (SBS9889U) with similar EDS models. Simultaneously, selected double-deck bus models that previously used plastic destination plates, such as the Volvo Olympian 3-Axle (Batch 3) and Volvo B9TL CDGE buses, were also retrofitted with new EDS displays found on wheelchair-accessible buses.

The table below reflects former SBS Transit bus routes which operated buses with the updated EDS display format for wheelchair-accessible buses: