SBS Transit and SMRT Buses have been awarded the Bukit Merah and Jurong West Bus Packages respectively, as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on 18 August 2023. These contracts will commence from 2Q 2024 and are estimated at a total fee of $890 million over a five-year contract period.
For the Bukit Merah Bus Package, SBS Transit secures a further five-year extension and remains the incumbent operator. It currently operates 17 bus services from Ulu Pandan Bus Depot under this package.
For the Jurong West Bus Package, SMRT Buses will succeed SBS Transit as the operator of 26 bus services in the Jurong West region, operating from Soon Lee Bus Depot. These services and the use of the depot will be handed over to SMRT by September 2024. SMRT Buses will also manage Boon Lay Interchange, Joo Koon Interchange, and Tuas Terminal.
Both route packages were tendered out under Contract PT218: Bus Contracting – Bukit Merah and Jurong West Bus Packages. Six companies took part in the tendering, including all four incumbent PTOs (SBST, SMRT, TTS, GAS) alongside foreign firms National Express Group and Transdev Group.
Bus Packages at a glance
Under the Bus Contracting Model, bus routes are bundled into bus packages, consisting of a single bus depot, several bus interchanges/terminals, the bus routes and the buses themselves. With all bus infrastructure belonging to the Government, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) would contract out the bus package, select a bus operator (through a competitive tendering process), and lease these assets to the new operator. Bus interchanges and terminals allocated to each package will also be maintained by the operator.
Contract PT218A: Bukit Merah Bus Package
Bukit Merah Bus Package was first awarded to SBS Transit in February 2018 under Contract PT203 after its negotiated contract expired in Nov 2018. The initial 5-year term was extended by five months.
The most recent award will see SBS Transit being retained as the incumbent for a subsequent 5-year term.
| Incumbent | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Present Contract Term | Tendered Package 1st Term (Contract PT203): Nov 2018 – Apr 2024 (5-year term + 5 months contract extension) |
| Upcoming Contract Term |
Tendered Package 2nd Term (Contract PT218A): Apr 2024 – 2029 |
| Bus Services | 5, 16/16M, 57, 93, 120, 121, 122, 123/123M, 131, 145, 160/160M, 170/170X, 195, 198, 272, 273 & 400 (17 bus routes) |
| Bus Depot | Ulu Pandan Bus Depot |
| Bus Interchanges | Bukit Merah, HarbourFront |
| Bus Terminals | Kampong Bahru, Queen Street, Shenton Way, Marina Centre |
Reasons for the award to SBS Transit were provided by LTA:
- Highest total score for Bukit Merah Bus Package, taking into account both price and quality factors
- Displayed an excellent understanding of the operational considerations for the Bukit Merah Bus Package
- Compelling value-added proposals to improve service delivery, environmental sustainability and promote public transport usage such as:
- Proposal to deploy Minibot, a self-service mobile concierge, as part of its customer service enhancements
- Aim to achieve ‘Net Zero Energy Building’ as part of its sustainability efforts, through optimising energy and water usage
- Committed to establishing a new Bus Captain Training and Certification Centre
SBS Transit submitted both a base proposal and an alternative proposal for the Bukit Merah Bus Package. While both proposals are of the same quality, the alternative proposal offers better value for money with a more efficient use of resources for the LTA.
No elaboration was provided by LTA on the alternative proposal. However, based on existing operations, SBS Transit is likely to garage buses for Bukit Merah Bus Package at other bus depots and also garage buses for other bus packages at Ulu Pandan Bus Depot to reduce dead mileage incurred by the operator. These operations are detailed in our main article on the Bukit Merah Bus Package.
Note
Supplementary Bus Service 160M was renumbered to Trunk Service 993 in September 2023, taking the service count of the Bukit Merah Bus Package to 18.
Contract PT218B: Jurong West Bus Package
Jurong West Bus Package has been operated by SBS Transit under a negotiated contract since the start of the BCM in September 2016.
SMRT Buses will succeed SBS Transit as the operator of this package based out of Soon Lee Bus Depot, which will also be handed over to SMRT. This marks the first time that an existing bus depot has been acquired by the LTA and leased out under the BCM.
| Incumbent | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Present Contract Term |
Negotiated Contract (Contract PT212): Sep 2016 – Sep 2024 (8-year term) |
| Upcoming Contract Term |
Tendered Package 1st Term (Contract PT218B): Sep 2024 – 2029 |
| Awarded Operator |
SMRT Buses Ltd |
| Bus Services |
179/179A, 181/181M, 182/182M, 185, 192, 193, 194, 199, 240/240M, 241, 242, 243G/243W, 246, 247, 248/248M, 249, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 257, 258, 405, 502/502A & 974 (26 bus routes) |
| Handover Date | From Sep 2024 |
| Bus Depot | Soon Lee Bus Depot |
| Bus Interchanges | Boon Lay, Joo Koon |
| Bus Terminals | Tuas |
Reasons for the award to SMRT Buses were provided by LTA:
- Highest total score for Jurong West Bus Package, taking into account both price and quality factors
- Displayed an excellent understanding of the operational considerations for the Jurong West Bus Package
- Compelling value-added proposals to improve service delivery, and environmental sustainability and promote public transport usage such as:
- Proposal to deploy an AI-enabled CCTV system to identify commuters who need help
- Leverage its WINK + application to promote the use of public transport and incentivise off-peak travel
The loss of Soon Lee Bus Depot for SBS Transit will also necessitate some restructuring of its operations in the Jurong West region as its bus services can no longer be garaged there. The depot currently supports partial operations of several bus services allocated to other bus packages, such as Bus Service 198 (Bukit Merah Bus Package) and 30 (Bedok Bus Package).
Transition of impacted workers
Current SBST employees from the Jurong West bus package will be protected by the Guidelines on Good Employment Practices in the Public Bus Industry and must be offered a job by SMRT, the incoming operator, at employment terms that are no worse off compared to current employment terms.
Fleet – Jurong West Bus Package
SBS Transit currently operates a fleet of the following bus models under the Jurong West Bus Package:
- Scania K230UB
- Mercedes-Benz Citaro
- MAN A22
- Volvo B9TL (Wright)
- MAN A95
- MAN A95 (Euro 6; 3-doors)
- Alexander Dennis Enviro500 (3-door)
Bid Prices
Bus operators were invited to submit bids for the two bus packages individually and/or a combined bid for both. Awarded tenderers and their respective contract sums are highlighted in red. Both winning bids were also the lowest-priced bids submitted in their respective categories.
| No. | Company | Bukit Merah only: Bid Price (5 years) |
Jurong West only: Bid Price (5 years) |
Bukit Merah + Jurong West: Bid Price (5 years) |
| 1 | SBS Transit Ltd (Alt)* | $476,457,752.81 | $420,902,393.84 | $895,778,967.55 |
| 2 | SBS Transit Ltd (Base) | $491,641,316.29 | $429,656,171.78 | $910,628,272.60 |
| 3 | SMRT Buses Ltd | $496,358,548.80 | $411,533,323.80 | $919,753,252.66 |
| 4 | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd (Alt)* | $532,673,769.20 | $426,965,612.42 | $955,593,032.56 |
| 5 | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd (Base) | $544,073,539.20 | $443,481,072.00 | $986,960,705.20 |
| 6 | The Go-Ahead Group Ltd (Alt)* | $576,133,505.00 | $479,010,698.00 | $1,040,081,690.00 |
| 7 | The Go-Ahead Group Ltd (Base) | $580,122,714.00 | $485,927,362.00 | $1,050,987,563.00 |
| 8 | Transdev Group S.A. (Alt) | $597,463,961.99 | NA | $1,073,700,749.93 |
| 9 | Transdev Group S.A. (Base) | $598,810,542.79 | $518,571,774.82 | $1,075,030,145.48 |
| 10 | National Express Group PLC | $563,008,737.00 | $536,058,617.00 | $1,063,822,760.00 |
According to LTA, the tender submissions were evaluated based on a two-envelope process which looked at both quality and price factors. The price submissions were only opened after the quality evaluation was completed. This two-envelope process ensures that LTA gets the best value-for-money proposal without compromising on quality.
The total price of the two individual winning bids was also more attractive when compared to the bid prices received for the combined package.
Tender Extension
LTA has the option to extend each contract by between two and five years at the end of the five-year term. This is in contrast to previous BCM terms, which were offered with extensions of up to two years only.
See Also:
- Tower Transit awarded Bulim and Sembawang-Yishun Bus Packages
- Bulim Bus Package
- Sembawang-Yishun Bus Package
- Bus Contracting Model
Bus 79 should also join Jurong West bcm and be operated by smrt
No need,When Jurong Town Hall Int start it will be based there and loop at BL.
I hope SMRT will take care of all the jurong west services like how SBST did all this while and plz SMRT do print service guides for the bus services.
This is a good opportunity to release many of the storage A22s back to SMRT, along with the non-cross border A22s that are all across SBST’s other depots prior to the takeover. Then those Citaros and KUBs from SLBP can return to fill the gaps. Theame can be done for the A95s, by swapping with SBS-registered B9TLs.
There is no way that is going to happen.
1. SMRT have a history of reducing their fleet to the minimum as possible. With that low bid, chances are they will be doing what tower transit did for their yishun-sembawang package, operating with the minimum buses possible without the need to lease (TT returned all the new A22s back to storage).
2. Doing some fleet checks, most of JW package are Double deckers, with around 50 single decks. Out of these 50, are 10+ Batch 1 scanias slated to retire next year. Its more than likely SBST will retain the batch 1s and swap them with the newer models from other SLBP services, rather than going through the hassle of transferring only for it to retire 3 months later after commencement.
3. Unlike bulim and sedep, they would likely follow what SMRT did for yishun-Sembawang package, whatever buses that is deployed currently for the services, will remain as it is for SMRT takeover.
Disagree. Who knows what stunts will LTA pull this time round. There is a high chance that the storage buses will eventually be released back to SMRT to replace the E4 Scanias. I would guess that half the current SL fleet which are E5 and E6 variants will stay while some A95s get swapped over to SL SMRT, of course I’m not expecting all of SBST’s A95s get transferred over, probably those from the western depots (UPDEP, BBDEP) can transfer.
Tsf some from BNDEP and AMKDEP la. hy SBS East district need so many A95? should have a balance of A95 and B9TL. Bias for Easties. Alway get new buses then west. why
SMRT taking over Jurong West bus package may potentially bring in bus models which were previously exclusive to SMRT bus services, and have not yet been on the Jurong West bus package routes.
Eg. ADL Enviro 500, MAN A95.
Honestly, it is a relief, because SBS Transit has not been operating the bus services properly. Eg. The irregular frequency of 179 during weekday morning, the Volvo B9TL buses not maintained properly such that it gets overheated sometimes.
It may be a good thing that SMRT takes over the Jurong West bus package.
At the same time, the Jurong West bus package services tend to be operating at overcapacity at the moment. Hopefully this transition of operators can also help to rationalize resources a bit, by having less Double Deckers and more Single Deckers, eg. for bus routes like 258 which don’t really need Double Decker one.
Essentially, it would be an overall upgrade in Jurong West. Am really looking forward to a much more vibrant public transport scene in Jurong West, which has all these while been monopolised and taken for granted by SBS Transit.
Go-Ahead only chance on next year is only Sengkang and CCK.
They’re doing a questionable job with Loyang at best, I’d rather they not take over any more services honestly.
Questionable? How? I still find it ok, much better than SBS days honestly. The buses are better maintained, service frequencies are still decent. All the more GA deserves to get another deal.
SMRT service more questionable with those army style of management.I dislike and quit SMRT ever since they hired many ex-Army generals.
Questionable job more likely for Sydney Region 10.
Go-Ahead high chance can get Sengkang.
SMRT high chance retain CCK-BP and Woodlands, maybe can win back Seletar as well.
I don’t think GA will get Sengkang,I forsee they will get CCK but at a later date next year or maybe early 2025 when Gali Batu Depot is ready.Sengkang high chance SMRT will grab or TTS.SBST will get the JRL in return.
I don’t see why you think high chance. Just because they got Loyang means they will dominate the entire north Eastern side?
Questionable.