Quarterly Review of Bus Services

As part of the on-going quarterly bus service review process with LTA, PTOs have also improved bus services by deploying higher capacity buses and/or adding more bus trips along sectors that experience consistent heavy ridership to better match demand and to increase frequency/capacity along these sectors.

June 2010, SBS Transit and SMRT identifies its first round of services to increase their capacity:

• SBS Transit: 9, 27, 45, 53, 131, 145, 163, 166, 183, 198
• SMRT: 67, 75, 180, 184, 187, 188, 190, 851, 911, 960

In the second round of service improvements in September 2010, 11 bus services were identified for improvement

• SBS Transit: More trips and double-deck buses for 5, 15, 17, 58, 78, 97, 174, 240, 410
• SMRT: More trips for 190 and 856
• SMRT: New Express service 868 during peak hours

In the third round of service improvements in December 2010, 9 bus services were identified for improvement

• SBS Transit: More trips for 5, 58, 94, 99, 154
• SBS Transit: More double-deck buses for 60 and 186
• SMRT: More trips for 806 during peak hours
• SMRT: More bendy buses for 180 and 806

In the fourth round of service improvements in March 2011, 21 bus services were identified for improvement

• SBS Transit: More trips for 34, 59, 88, 130, 139, 145, 240, 243G, 291, 359 and 372
• SBS Transit: More double-deck buses for 79, 95, 181 and 185
• SMRT: More trips for 169, 184, 188, 190, 960 and 966
• SMRT: New express service 971E during peak hours

In the fifth round of service improvements in June 2011, 17 bus services were identified for improvement

• SBS Transit: More trips for 3, 81, 98, 222, 225, 315
• SBS Transit: 4 more double-deck buses for 37 and 246
• SBS Transit: 6 more single-deck buses for 39, 163, 200, 235 and 240.
• SMRT: 3 bendy buses and more trips for 806
• SMRT: 1 more bus and more trips for 75
• SMRT: Additional morning trip for Express 971E
• SMRT: More trips for 189A, extension of service hours

In the sixth round of service improvements in September 2011, 21 bus services were identified for improvement

• SBS Transit: More trips for 43, 48, 131, 183, 200, 410
• SBS Transit: More double-deck buses for 58, 60, 95, 168, 186, 243W, 291 and 249 during peak hours
• SBS Transit: More bus trips for 158 during peak hours
• SMRT: 1 more bendy buses for 969 during peak hours
• SMRT: 1 more bus for 962 for weekdays
• SMRT: 1 more bus for 922 and 966 for weekdays and weekends
• SMRT: 1 bendy bus for morning trip for Express 971E, plus two more evening return trips
• SMRT: 1 downroute trip of 106 during morning peak, starting from BB.E.Ave 3 Blk 231

In the seventh round of service improvements in December 2011, 39 bus services were identified for improvement

• SBS Transit: More trips for 38, 43, 100, 181
• SBS Transit: 20 more double-deck buses for 13, 45, 54, 55, 58, 70, 78, 79, 183, 186, 198 and 243W during peak hours
• SMRT: More peak-hour trips on 61, 106, 169, 188, 189, 300, 302, 307, 804, 911, 925, 950, 966 and 969
• SMRT: 1 bendy bus for 700 during peak hours
• SMRT: More full-day buses for 171, 806, 857 and 960
• SMRT: More weekend buses for 925, 927 and 975
• SMRT: Extra morning trip for 971E to 4 trips
• SMRT: Launching of BPS1 as an alternative to BPLRT

In the eight round of service improvements in March 2012, 22 bus services were identified for improvement, and 180 more weekly bus trips added

• SBS Transit: More trips for 7, 36, 57, 98, 109
• SBS Transit: More double-deck buses for 6, 43, 45, 98, 197, 285 and 334 during peak hours
• SBS Transit: More trips + peak hour double-decks for 52
• SBS Transit: New shortworking trips 53A, 240A for AM Peak, 53B, 198A for PM Peak
• SMRT: 1 more bus for 966 during AM peak
• SMRT: 1 more bendy bus for 700 during peak hours
• SMRT: 1 more bendy bus for 106 during morning peak hours
• SMRT: 1 more bendy bus slot for 971E during morning peak hours
• SMRT: 1 downroute slot for 77 from 42071 Upp Bukit Timah Rd to Bukit Batok Int for AM Peak
• SMRT: More trips + 1 more bus for 811 during peak hours
• SMRT: More trips for 962 during afternoon off-peak hours

In the ninth round of service improvements in June 2012, 22 bus services were identified for improvement, and 115 more weekly bus trips added

• SBS Transit: More trips for 161, 168, 400, 402
• SBS Transit: Introduction of double-decks to 90 and 109
• SBS Transit: More double-deck buses for 5, 37, 55, 78, 79, 90, 109, 161, 163, 168, 183 and 291 during peak hours
• SBS Transit: New shortworking trips 13A, 98B for AM Peak
• SMRT: More trips for 811 and 901 durong AM Peak
• SMRT: Adjustment of bendy bus slots of 854 and 969 to better cater to demand
• SMRT: 1 downroute slot for 67 from 42071 Upp Bukit Timah Rd to Chua Chu Kang Int for AM Peak
• SMRT: 1 downroute slot for 969 from 57129 Sembawang Rd to Tampines Int for AM Peak
• SMRT: Short trip for 811E from Yishun Bus Int to Yishun Ave 2 during AM Peak

In the tenth round of service improvements in September 2012, 30 bus services were identified for improvement, and released together with the announcement of the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP)

• SBS Transit: Enhancement to 2, 7, 12, 15, 22, 39, 43, 52, 70, 72, 79, 86, 139, 163, 183, 243W, 285, 293, 506 and 518
• SMRT: Enhancement to 169, 171, 184, 190, 858, 945, 965, 969, 971E, 975

In the eleventh round of service improvements in December 2012, 30 bus services were identified for improvement, and released together with the announcement of the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP)

• SBS Transit: Enhancement to 5, 7, 19, 25, 36, 39, 45, 76, 88, 90, 94, 95, 109, 145, 154, 161, 185, 198, 225, 240 and 334
• SMRT: Enhancement to 178, 811, 852, 854, 856, 859, 961, 966 and 971E

The Quarterly Review of Bus Services was later succeeded by the BSEP which would fund the improvement of bus services with $1.1 billion over the next five years.

Bus services enhanced under BSEP in fourth quarter 2012:

• SBS Transit: 2, 8, 21, 29, 48, 57, 60, 79, 86, 87, 147, 168, 228, 229, 238, 246. 262, 273, 284, 315, 317, 325, 333 and 335
• SMRT: 77, 962, 963 and 969

For more information, visit the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) article.

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