Singapore Buses route 170

Service 170 is a cross-border service plying between Queen Street Terminal and Larkin Terminal in Johor Bahru, passing through Rochor, Bukit Timah, Upper Bukit Timah, Woodlands Road, Woodlands CIQ, Sultan Iskandar CIQ, and Jalan Tun Abdul Razak. This is the only bidirectional route to have its bus terminals at either end serving only one local franchised bus route. About 3 in 4 buses drop-off passengers at JB CIQ before picking up passengers to go back Singapore. In addition, there is also a bus service 170X, which is a short working service all the way to Queen Street

Due to varying traffic conditions at the Causeway, travel times and frequencies may increase significantly when jams occur. At each checkpoint, rides will be suspended and passengers have to alight and clear customs before boarding the bus again. "Checkpoint Entry" exists at JB Checkpoint, and "Checkpoint" at Woodlands Checkpoint.

It is also due to the expensive tolls in the Johor-Singapore Causeway, the later signifies the increase in both August 1 and October 1.

Fleet
Only JB-registered single-deck buses are allowed on cross border routes. Currently, only some Scania K230UBs are JB-registered. In accordance with Malaysian regulations, buses must carry relevant documents, fitted with a third brake light at the rear, and attached with Malaysian stickers dictating legal speed limit. The Volvo B10M Mark IV (DM3500) buses were all mass transferred between February and August 2011 between several depots to Bukit Batok, replacing Volvo B10M Mark IV (Walter Alexander Strider) as part of the original plan. They were planned since 2008 for the Volvo B10M Mark IV (DM3500) buses. Volvo B10M Mark IIIs stayed in Bukit Batok Depot after the de-registration in August 2011 till the end of the lifespan.

Volvo B10M Mark IV (DM3500) buses were consolidated and redeployed into various depots after finishing on this service, whereas Volvo B10M Mark II are the same as above. All the buses that were used primarily used a square desto before a rectangular desto, but also had their desto called "QUEEN STREET 170 JOHOR BAHRU" which has been changed in 2011 before the massive change in 2014.

Currently, Scania K230UBs that were transferred from Hougang and Bukit Batok depots were deployed on Service 170 on April 2014, and these were the first wheelchair buses in the point of introduction. Scania K230UBs were switched to one-destination EDS in 2014.

Shortworking Trip: 170A
Service 170 caters to high demand between Little India/Rochor Canal and Woodlands Road, mostly from foreign workers commuting from Little India back to their dormitories along Woodlands Road. Although SMRT Service 960 offers the fastest route, frequent overcrowding on the service leads to greater patronage for Service 170.

The shortworking trip had been ‘withdrawn’ in the early 2000s, with no mention of it until its reappearance in 2014. It briefly reappeared from 27 December 2015, it is a parallel bus service operating alongside its parent cross-border Service 170. Plying unidirectionally from Queen Street Terminal to Woodlands Train Checkpoint at Woodlands Centre Road via Rochor, Bukit Timah, Upper Bukit Timah and Woodlands Road, the route duplicates the local sectors of Service 170 without crossing the border.

Previously an ad-hoc service, it was formally introduced from Sunday, 27 December 2015 to operate daily.

A full trip of Service 170A from Queen Street Terminal to Woodlands Centre Road (Woodlands Train Checkpoint) takes about one hour, and all passengers must alight at the terminating stop. The bus will then proceed to the next stop, Woodlands Centre Road (Opp Blk 1A), and begin its return journey towards Queen Street Terminal, operating as Service 170. For drivers, 170A would be more of a loop service with little time to rest at the looping point.

Service 170A buses and their drivers operate independently of Service 170 despite the many similarities. Their buses do not cross the border, and as such, are able to use non-cross-border buses such as Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaros. As such, local bus drivers can be deployed to Service 170A (Currently, SBS Transit rosters only Malaysian drivers to cross-border services). Departures from Queen Street Terminal are staggered with its parent Service 170 (Red Plate) to space buses apart.

On the Integrated Driver's Fare Console (IDFC), service 170A is displayed as service 770. On the return trip, it uses service 170.

Mercedes-Benz Citaros are commonly deployed on Service 170A and subsequently perform special departures back down to Queen Street Ter from Woodlands Centre Rd. These buses do not need to be JB-registered as they do not cross the border into Malaysia.