Commuters can look forward to new and improved bus services in the upcoming months.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Jul. 30 that they will be investing up to S$900 million over the next eight years on bus services, in response to changes in travel patterns and increased demand for such services.

The cost is for the purchase of new buses, infrastructural improvements, and the operating cost of new bus services.

"Similar to existing bus services, part of the cost will be recovered through fares paid by commuters using the services," said LTA.

Some of these bus services will help better serve residents in areas with fewer existing bus services, or where the resident population has grown substantially and the passenger loads on the MRT and buses have increased, said LTA.

Residents in Tampines North, Toa Payoh East, Punggol, and Yishun East are among those who will have new bus services.

"We will start rolling out [the first bus services] in September this year," Transport Minister and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat told the media on Jul. 30.

"And then gradually, we will roll them out in different parts of Singapore in different towns to benefit our residents and enhance bus connectivity."

What can commuters expect?

"Express feeder" bus services

"Express feeder" bus services will be introduced in estates with areas located farther away from major transport nodes and town centres.

Such bus services will take more direct routes with fewer intermediate stops when compared to existing feeder services.

One such bus service will be introduced in Tampines North in December 2024, providing a more direct connection to Tampines MRT station.

Improving existing services

LTA also said it would step up improvements to existing bus services by adding trips or adjusting routes.

One such example is the extension of a bus service to connect residents in Toa Payoh East to Caldecott MRT station, which will improve connectivity from Toa Payoh East to the Thomson-East Coast Line and the Circle Line.

The bus service will be introduced by the end of this year, said LTA.

Peak-hour express bus services

"We will introduce more peak-hour express bus services as an alternative option for residents, to complement busier MRT lines," LTA added.

This includes a new City Direct Service (CDS) that will be introduced in Punggol around October 2024, providing a direct route to the city.

New bus services for new towns

LTA said it would speed up the pace of introducing bus services in new towns.

This would better serve "early batches" of residents in those new estates, said LTA.

This is in anticipation of growing demand once residents settle into their new homes.

LTA will be bringing forward the introduction of one such bus service to connect residents in new and upcoming BTO developments in Yishun East to nearby Khatib MRT station, which will be launched by end September 2024.

Bus services to complement MRT services

Chee acknowledged that certain bus service lines have been discontinued over the years, such as trunk routes that run parallel to MRT lines.

He explained that such adjustments are needed so resources can be freed up for new services.

“We do need to provide the bus services to complement our MRT network because they are both important elements of our public transport network,” said Chee.

Top image via SBS Transit website.