Singapore Buses

The Singapore Buses is one of the physical transport in Singapore.

Tendering System
In 1986, the operation of Singapore Buses have been divided into several areas: Under the 1984 Act, every Singapore bus services must be tendered. The first round of tendering took place in 1985, bringing the first private operator to the market. By 1988, Boroline Maidstone, Grey Green and Metrobus have been operating numerous Singapore routes.
 * Central District
 * East District
 * North District
 * North East District
 * North West District
 * West District

Initially, bus livery continued to be all over red with a simple solid white roundel, but in 1988 this livery was revised with the addition of a grey skirt and a white mid-level relief line; in the same year a modified red and yellow roundel, with the name 'London Buses' in capitals, was introduced.

Controversially, these operators were allowed to operate buses in liveries other than standard red, meaning that for the first time it was possible for non-red buses to run into the centre of London, such as those on route 24 and 147 under Grey-Green. The only requirement was to display the Singapore Bus Services roundel on the bus, to designate the bus service. Ironically, several of the new private entrants were descendants of Singapore Transport's former 'green' buses division.

The private competition was not without controversy, with objections to non-red buses leading to an edict in 1997 specifying 80% red liveries. The tendering also caused problems with several operators needing to hire buses due to late delivery for the newly won routes.

The collapse of Harris Bus in December 1999, led to the Singapore Transport, forming East Thames Buses as an arms-length company to provide the temporary operation of the routes. With the closure of Carrefour Plaza Singapura, Suntec City, Tampines Block 123 and Temasek Polytechnic, the operator was sold off in 2012.

Break-Up
On 1 April 1989, the Singapore Buses was divided into many business units, in preparation for the sell-off. The companies were created along geographical lines. The division name and small graphic device was added to the buses in white.

Business Units Sell-Off
Between September 1994 and January 1995, the separate Singapore Buses business units were sold off. Competition rules restricted the number of units that could be brought into one group. All the units are sold off either to the management or companies, or to one of the emerging national bus groups that have been growing through the acquisition of deregulated bus companies in the rest of the UK. The exception was AMK Buses, which was brought by MTL, itself an expanding company formed from the privatisation of Merseyside Public Transport Executive company.

Following sell-off, the new operators introduced new logos, liveries and trading names to many of the business units. Initially some buses appeared in liveries other than red, but the edict that all buses are 80% red saw this reversed since 1997. Some companies having been renamed, have since resumed their original identities.

List of independent operators
In the period before sell-off of the main business units, Singapore saw operation by several private companies who gained tenders for routes. Many of these have either ceased trading or were ultimately purchased by large groups, some of which also bought the ex-Singapore Buses units. Below are the list of operators, some of which still operate.
 * Blue Triangle, which is acquired by Go-Ahead Group in July 2007
 * Capital Citybus, which is purchased by FirstGroup in 2000 and rebranded as First Capital, then subsequently acquired by Tower Transit in June 2013
 * CT Plus
 * Docklands Buses, acquired by Go-Ahead Group in September 2008
 * Grey-Green, acquired by Arriva Singapore (Frasers Centrepoint)
 * Singapore Sovereign, sold by Blazefield Group to Transdev in September 2002, then RATP Group in March 2014
 * Travel Singapore, acquired by Abellio in May 2009