Bus transport in Singapore

Bus transport forms a significant part of public transport in Singapore, with over 4.0 million rides taken per day on average as of 2018. There are more than 364 scheduled bus services, operated by SBS Transit, SMRT Buses, Tower Transit Singapore and Go-Ahead Singapore. The newest bus operator, Go-Ahead Singapore started operation from 4 September 2016. There are also around 5,800 buses currently in operation.

Early history
Buses were first introduced into Singapore when the Singapore Traction Company (STC) was established under the Singapore Traction Company Ordinance of 1925 to replace the ill-fated electric tramway with a trolleybus system. The first trolleybuses began operations on 14 August 1926 between Joo Chiat Road and Tanjong Pagar whereas trams were phased out by 1927, with 66 trolleybuses plying on six routes with a mileage of 15” by 30 September that year. The STC later phased in motorbuses in 1929 when seven Dennis G-type buses began plying between Geylang and Finlayson Green before being transferred to serve Seletar.

However, the STC also faced heavy competition from “mosquito-buses”, a form of informal paratransit operated using privately-owned modified Ford Model T vehicles. Reckless driving of such “mosquito-buses” led to the government imposing heavy regulation on them, including having to stop at fixed stops (1923) and speed limits (1927). By 1935, “mosquito-buses” were eventually replaced with more formalised bus services with the former “mosquito-bus” owners establishing what came to be known as the Chinese bus companies; these Chinese-operated buses connected the rural parts of Singapore to the town as opposed to the inner town services of the STC.

During the Japanese Occupation during the Second World War, all bus operations were briefly unified under the Syonan-si den (昭南市電), fuel shortages then led to some buses being charcoal-powered.

1950s-1960s: Post-war recovery and troubles
After the end of the war, the British Military Administration (BMA) was established to oversee the rebuilding of British institutions in its Malayan and Singapore colonies. Under the BMA, the STC slowly returned to normal operations with much of the dilapidated bus fleet replaced with newer motorbuses of the Albion make whereas the Chinese bus companies sought after numerous British makes such as Vulcan and Bedford. On the other hand, trolleybus operations were scaled down with only 50 new Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies-built trolleybuses procured as opposed the original 108 AEC-built trolleybuses from the pre-war period. Trolleybuses were eventually phased out by 1962 and were replaced by new Isuzu-built motorbuses.

Unfortunately the 1950s boded bad times for both the STC and the Chinese bus companies. General discontent on the poor working conditions, coupled with a highly politicised environment in the 1950s, led to many of their workers joining labour unions such as the STC Employee’s Union and the Singapore Bus Workers’ Union (SBWU). Labour unrest led to transport paralysis, with two notorious incidents being the Hock Lee bus riots in 1955 (that year alone saw 57 strikes) and a 146 day-long Great STC Strike in 1956, the latter which further accelerated the decline of the STC when Chinese bus companies established their presence in the inner city with replacement bus services. Illegal “pirate taxis” also flourished during this time, offering a form of relief for stranded commuters although they were also notorious for unsafe driving practices and cost the bus companies and legitimate taxi drivers much losses.

The severity of the situation demanded immediate action from the government; in 1956 five Commissioners led by Mr L.C. Hawkins of the London Transport Executive published a report that recommended nationalisation of public transport but little was followed up by the government then.

Bus reorganisation and mergers, 1970s
Five years after the independence of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965, the government published a White Paper to study into an overhaul on bus services; this was followed by the Wilson Report published by Australian transport consultant R.P. Wilson, who not only reaffirmed the need for rationalisation of bus transport but also provided detailed recommendations on bus routes, frequencies, fares, vehicle specifications, bus stop and terminal design and maintenance standards.

In April 1971, the 10 Chinese bus companies were merged to form three larger regional bus companies, namely Amalgamated Bus Company for the West, Associated Bus Services in the East and United Bus Company in the North. The STC retained their presence in central Singapore but lost their privileges previously granted by the 1925 STC Ordinance. Unable to cope with existing financial difficulties and competition from the regional companies, the STC eventually discontinued bus operations in 1971, with its remaining bus fleet being split up between the three regional companies. Service quality did not make great improvement however, with breakdowns and complaints from passengers being very common. Eventually in 1973, the Singapore government persuaded the three regional companies to merge to form a single entity called Singapore Bus Services (SBS).

SBS inherited many problems from its Chinese predecessors, including use of 14 non-standard bus models that frequently broke down, poor standards among the staff and inadequate infrastructure. Hence, the government seconded a Government Team of Officials to SBS in 1974 to overhaul the management and culture. Under the supervision of the GTO, SBS completely overhauled their bus fleet with new buses of usually the Albion Viking VK or Mercedes-Benz OF1413 makes and introduced a rigorous maintenance regime, improving the reliability of their buses greatly whereas a new disciplinary code was introduced, reducing complaints by half from 1979 to 1983. The government also helped to further alleviate the burden from SBS by introducing priority bus lanes to speed up bus services and introduced Scheme B bus services operated by private companies in 1974.

In 1977, SBS introduced into service its first double-decker buses, the Leyland Atlantean AN68 on route 86 between Tampines Way and Shenton Way. Although route 86 was not a success and was eventually withdrawn, the success of the Atlantean buses on routes 140 and 159 led to SBS phasing in more double decker buses in years to come.

Bus services were also greatly rationalised with duplicate services withdrawn and a new spoke-and-hub approach of feeder and trunk routes introduced. In 1978, the first bus interchange opened in Jurong as a nexus between trunk services to other parts of Singapore and feeder services to serve Jurong. This would spur the construction of more bus interchanges to come such as those at Bedok, Clementi and Ang Mo Kio.

In 1979, one-man operation was introduced to cut manpower costs with passengers now directly paying into a fare box instead of a conductor. By 1984, bus conductors were completely phased out.

By 1978, SBS was in a healthy position to be publicly listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange as SBS (1978) Limited.

Enter the new players, 1980s-1990s
Into the 1980s, SBS had managed to modernise its fleet with new buses such as the Volvo B57, Mercedes-Benz OF1417 and the Leyland Atlantean AN68. By 1982 however, there was concerns that SBS might turn complacent. To ensure that SBS remain competitive, the government gave Mr Ng Ser Miang of Singapore Shuttle Bus (SSB, one of the two operators of City Shuttle Service) the green light to set up a second operator. Named as Trans-Island Bus Services (TIBS), TIBS started operations the following year with a modest fleet of 90 Hino buses on routes 160 and 176. By 1987, the company had expanded its operations to encompass Woodlands and Yishun and operated 328 buses on 214 routes, while also owning Singapore Shuttle Bus.

In 1984, SBS put into trial its first air-conditioned buses, the Mercedes-Benz OF1413/61, on route 168. Following various trials of different air-conditioned demonstrators, SBS made its first bulk order for air-conditioned buses in 1989, in this case the Scania N113CRB. When the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) opened in 1987, bus services were further rationalised such that buses complemented the MRT by “feeding” commuters into the MRT network. Fares for both buses and the MRT were also coordinated together from 1987 with the setting of the Public Transport Council that year whereas magnetic stored value cards were implemented across the entire bus network to streamline fare payment earlier in 1986.

In 1993, SBS introduced into service its first air-conditioned 12m double decker bus, the Leyland Olympian 3-axle. With a capacity of 131, its size earned it the nickname the “Superbus”. Three years later, TIBS phased in Singapore’s first articulated buses with a length of 17.5m and a capacity of 150.

Bus operators go multimodal, late 1990s-2000s
By 1996, SBS had expanded far beyond public bus operations to include tourist transport (SBS Leisure), taxis (Citycab) and engineering works (SBS Engineering) to name a few. To better manage its business, SBS (1978) Limited was rebranded as DelGro Corporation while public bus services were now managed by a new subsidiary named SBS. This new company also won a tender to operate the North East MRT Line and the LRT systems in Sengkang and Punggol and was rebranded as SBS Transit in 2001 to reflect its multimodal nature. By 2003, Delgro Corporation merged with Comfort Group to form ComfortDelGro, one of the largest land transport operators in the world whose operations include Metroline in London and ComfortDelGro Australia. In 2001, TIBS was merged into SMRT Corporation and by 2004, the TIBS name was dropped by SMRT, with TIBS now being known as SMRT Buses.

During this period, there were also numerous changes outside corporate shakeups; in 1995, some bus services in Sengkang and Punggol were transferred to TIBS from SBS but this was reversed in 1999 when SBS won the contract to operate the North East MRT Line. In return, bus services in Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Batok were transferred to TIBS that year. In 2002, the contactless EZ-Link card was introduced to replace the magnetic farecard and the first air-conditioned bus interchange also opened in Toa Payoh; by the end of 2019, there will be 11 air-conditioned integrated transport hubs (ITH).

In 2006, SBS Transit introduced into service its first wheelchair accessible bus, the Volvo B9TL, on route 21 between Pasir Ris and St Michael. SSB wound up in 2007 with the discontinuation of the City Shuttle Service and its fleet was inherited by SMRT Buses. By 2009, both SBS Transit and SMRT Buses were renewing their respective bus fleets with new low-entry Scania K230UB buses and Mercedes-Benz OC500LE buses respectively.

It was also in the 21st century when the public bus operators looked into alternative fuel sources. In 2002, SBS purchased 12 CNG-powered Volvo B10BLE buses whereas the first hybrid buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses were brought in in 2010.

Government leans in, 2010s
Since the early years of independence, the government has maintained its stance that heavy car usage is not sustainable for Singapore in the long term with a mixed use of policies to both deter car usage and to push its people to take public transport. Public transport in Singapore has unfortunately felt the strain from an increasing population; in December 2011, the North South MRT Line suffered its first major breakdowns with 127,000 passengers affected in the worst of them. Amid growing criticism of the existing operating model and growing strain on the bus system, the main public transport statutory board Land Transport Authority (LTA) launched the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP), with 80 new bus routes and 1000 government-funded buses (initially comprising of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro, Volvo B9TL, MAN NL323F A22) introduced over a period of five years. In 2013, the last non air-conditioned public bus, the Volvo Olympian 2-axle, was phased out of service whereas SMRT Buses introduced its first new articulated bus, the MAN NG363F A24 and in the following year, its first ever double decker bus, the Alexander Dennis Enviro500.

In 2014, LTA announced that it would replace the existing operating model with the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) from 2016 onwards. Modelled after the Transperth model with elements of the competitive tendering model from London Buses, LTA would own all bus assets and lease them out in regional packages to different bus operators for five years. The first bus package, the Bulim Bus Package, was awarded to Anglo-Australian company Tower Transit whereas Loyang was awarded to Go-Ahead. Both companies began their operations in 2016. The entire public bus system was fully transitioned into the BCM by September 2016 with SBS Transit and SMRT signing agreements with LTA to operate the remaining packages up to 2021 to 2026 after which they would be gradually opened up to competitive tendering.

Under the BCM, new buses with new features were also introduced; in 2016 the first fully electric bus since the withdrawal of trolleybuses, the BYD K9A, was operated by Go-Ahead Singapore whereas the first buses with USB charging ports commenced service with SMRT that year. In 2017, two new three-door buses were trialled by Tower Transit and SMRT Buses. New hybrid buses were also purchased from Volvo in 2018.

On 17 December 2018, LTA started a 6-month trial of on-demand public bus (ODPB) services. It allows commuters in the Joo Koon and Marina-Downtown areas to request the on-demand services during off-peak hours on weekdays. During the trial, regular bus services serving the areas specified will still be available, though at lower frequencies.

Vehicles
Singapore's buses consist of single deck and double deck buses and they are operated by all four operators, SBS Transit, SMRT Buses, Tower Transit Singapore and Go-Ahead Singapore. Articulated buses are operated by SBS Transit and SMRT Buses.

In April 1996, SBS Transit introduced a demonstrator Volvo B10MA bus (registration SBS998Y) fitted with a three-door version of the Duple Metsec bodywork similar to that of Volvo's B10M buses. With a length of 19 m, this bus earned the title of "Asia's Longest Bus". In 1997, SBS Transit purchased another articulated bus, the Mercedes-Benz O405GN (registration SBS999U), again as a demonstrator. This bus had Volgren CR221L bodywork. In March 2006, SBS Transit sold all its articulated buses to New Zealand after encountering drivability issues with the Volvo B10MA bus and air conditioning problems with the Mercedes-Benz bus, and also deciding that double-decker buses could carry more passengers while taking up less road space, as opposed to SMRT's stance that "articulated buses offer greater accessibility and efficiency".

Routes
Singapore has many different bus services plying through the island. These bus routes are categorised accordingly:
 * Trunk: Routes that ply between towns. (e.g. 166, 197)
 * Short Trip: Routes that operate short haul trips of services which cover high demand sectors of the parent route. (e.g. 240A)
 * Feeder: Services that operate within a neighbourhood. (e.g. 803)
 * Jurong Industrial Service: Routes that service the Jurong and Tuas industrial areas. Operated exclusively by SBS Transit. (e.g. 246)
 * Express: Routes that stop at selected stops and generally run on expressways or long stretches of express sector for faster travel between several towns. (e.g. 502, 506)
 * City Direct: Service connecting passengers directly to and from the Central Business District. Previously operated exclusively by private operators, but public operators have taken over some services. (e.g. 660)
 * NightRider (SMRT Buses) and Nite Owl (SBS Transit): Midnight services on Fridays, Saturdays and eves of Public Holidays. (e.g. NR1, 1N)
 * Chinatown Direct: Routes that run from towns to Chinatown via the expressway. Operated exclusively by SBS Transit. (e.g. CT8)
 * Cross Border Services: Services that cross the Causeway or the Second Link into Malaysia. (e.g. 160, 170)