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
I hope 174 and 198 gets added to Jurong West package.
Actually, considering the same depot will be used before and after the transition, I am expecting most of the fleet to be adjusted within this one year period (September 2023 to September 2024), with minor fleet replacement during the transition itself (only to replace non-BCM bus models).
As mentioned, the Jurong West Bus Package bus routes may need some capacity adjustment, as some bus services tend to be operating at overcapacity. This transition period will provide an excellent opportunity to right-size the capacity of the Jurong West Bus Package bus fleet.
Considering it’s a multistorey bus depot, I don’t think they will use bendy buses, even though the incoming bus operator is SMRT.
Anyway, regarding the fleet adjustment to all BCM fleet, the outgoing model is probably just the Scania K230UB (SD) only. They will probably be replaced with just the MAN A22 Euro 6 (SD). Maybe even the Mercedes-Benz Citaro (SD) could potentially be replaced with MAN A22 Euro 6 (SD) buses, so that there is a single-model SD fleet, to reap economies of scale.
The rest of the bus fleets are probably BCM fleet already, maybe just a little bit of the SBS-owned Volvo B9TL (DD) that need to transfer to LTA or replaced with LTA+owned Double Decker buses only. Similarly, the DD fleet may even be standardised to Volvo B9TLs to reap economies of scale.
SMRT, may have a better way of maintaining the buses, and their performance may be optimised with standardised bus models.
I am personally looking forward to the takeover of the Jurong West Bus Package by SMRT, because it may help to improve the overall operations of the Jurong West Bus Package, from the operating aspect to the passenger service aspect.
Well, according to sgwiki, there are currently about 71 units of the Scania K230UB buses and about 46 units of the Mercedes Benz Citaro buses in Soon Lee Depot; total = about 117. There are currently 129 units of the MAN A22 buses in LTA storage. Therefore, it is indeed possible to standardise the single decker bus fleet of the Jurong West Bus Package to all MAN A22 buses.
SMRT only lease the storage A22 to offset the Euro IV KUB and also for spare buses.No need to standardised fleet to all A22s.You must take note the upcoming Sengkang-Hougang also need some storage A22/Citaro to offset the Euro IV KUBs too.
Jurong West Package just need 67 single and 219 double deckers excluding spare buses.Don’t count those dual depot control service like 30,51 etc.
Upper 2 decks can only intake 320 buses while the ground floor only supports around 100 plus buses.So SMRT will take the opportunity to park their current Bulim-Based buses here.Suspect part of 172,178,187,180 will park here.61 & 991 will go back to KJ while the EV bus service will continue to use Bulim.
Actually, just wondering, can a multistorey bus depot support bendy buses? Otherwise, really no chance of seeing bendy buses on Boon Lay feeders.
Unless the slope is wide enough,But I don’t think so cause I’ve ever been to SL twice.
We are going to see SMRT KUB!
Haha i really hope so really would be nice seeing kub on smrt service and even tower transit
Yes, I do hope that SMRT will get KUBs in same manner as how TT has already got OCs
I also hope that SMRT will get some Batch 1 and Batch 2A Wright B9TL (the low entry version)…
If any KUBs are getting requisitioned it would have to be the €5 version. All €4 and before vehicles are progressively being retired.
Yeah I concurred with you,The SL E4 will be phased out before the handover and will be replaced by storage buses
Electric buses you mean, cuz LTA procure 400 E-bus
Am surprised to see Jurong West Bus Package have less than 280 buses in total.
Assuming 20 spare buses additional, this Depot will only hold 300 buses tops, half of the capacity this Depot can hold.
It’s surprising SBST have to move their entire assets out of SLBP to other depots cum 2024, which may be a problem for 51 and 105, where most of their fleet are at SLBP because HGDEP have over 700 buses despite the fact that some services had moved to Loyang from hougang when GA took over.
Hopefully Sengkang West is up soon so it can relieve hougang overcrowding and start the tender for sengkang-hougang package, considering it too also expires in 2024 after given an extension already.
Don’t know if SKDEP is ready yet. I understand the construction was delayed due to Covid-19.
Hopefully SBST can stay in SLBP but must not take more than 190 lots.
I think before mid 2024…Looks 70% completed.
Yes, in fact 10 KUBs are already under SMRT. As for tts, no shot yet.
30 probably Updep-Bndep
154 Updep-Hgdep
157 Updep-Brbp
174 Updep or last minute change to Jurong West SMRT.
198 might go full Updep.
197 Bbdep-Bndep.
All Kent Ridge go back to Bbdep.
Buona Vista and Ghim Moh to Updep.
Yeah, I find it weird that they didn’t put 174 under JW. At least have another trunk route from Boon Lay to Orchard and CBD in addition to 502.
Cause JW already tanked so many JIS..But again it’s weird unless there’s some route modification in future.LTA scholars too wise until bus package occurred so many dead mileage.Look at service 187,Off service from Woodlands to Boon Lay..Should have been into JW.Look at 136,Should have stay at Seletar.
Well Go-Ahead this time either make it or break it.2024 only CCK-BPJ & Sengkang-Hougang to bid.Else wait for 2026 bye2…Very hard to sustain with only 1 package.They need at least 2 packages to survive longer.
136 better in Hougang. 169 better in Seletar.
136 better in seletar. Same goes for 825
169 and 825 can be easily swapped for 801 and 852.
85 and 110 should swap bus packages with each other also, that is 85 should be under SMRT Woodlands Bus Package, while 110 should be under Go Ahead Loyang Bus Package.
It’s highly likely 187 will cross Depot with SLBP in the future, just like how UPDEP does it.
Let’s not forget that SMRT’s one is just base, not alternate. Meaning to say, most probably SMRT will operate the Jurong West Bus Package as a separate entity from the rest of its current operations.
Going by Jurong West Bus Package trend, whereby everyone is saying that it is awarded to SMRT actually it’s because the Jurong Region Line will be going to SBS Transit,
Based on this logic, the Sengkang-Hougang Bus Package got chance of being awarded to a non-SBST bus operator.
Whereas for CCK-BP, it may still remain with SMRT, or go to a non-SBST bus operator. The reason is because many of the long-distance trunk routes actually run along the SBS Transit-operated Downtown Line.
Go Ahead, currently only operates the Loyang Bus Package, which is based out of the Loyang Bus Depot.
If Go Ahead notices the trend of lowest cost bidder gets the contract, and propose base proposal (operate each package separately) and alternate proposal (depot sharing for some bus services), they may actually get to retain the Loyang Bus Package and expand their operations to the Sengkang-Hougang Bus Package.
Likewise for SMRT, actually. The Jurong West Bus Package’s 974, and the Choa Chu Kang Bus Package’s 172, 180, actually can dual-depot control to reduce dead mileage.
Nonetheless, actually, if it’s Jurong West Bus Package and Bulim Bus Package pairing, may potentially dual-depot control many more bus services, since the proximity of the two depots are much nearer. Can potentially pair 174, 157, 181, 199 and 185 of Jurong West Bus Package, and 79 and 98 for dual depot…
Actually, why do you think Tower Transit did not get the Jurong West Bus Package? Is it because they are trying for trio-depot control? Cuz their alternate is just slightly higher than SMRT’s only proposal. LTA probably don’t want a depot to control more than 2 packages.
So, in a nutshell,
JW and CCK-BP could be a good pairing for dual-depot control (SMRT),
LY and HG-SK could be a good pairing for dual-depot control (Go Ahead).
It would be good if the above-mentioned bus operators can get the above-mentioned bus packages.
JW+CCK+WL best under same operator, and the same applies for LY+HG.
For TTS, BU+SBW+TAM (when it comes up) means they control each end of the city.
I prefer 174 in Bulim and 96 and Clementi feeders back to Clementi.
174 go Bukit Merah better.96 & feeders probably to Clementi once the integrated depot is operational.85 & 136 to Hougang also better.