U.K. bus operator Tower Transit clinches first tendered bus contract

The Straits Times reported that Tower Transit which had submitted the third lowest bid, will operate the new Bulim Bus Depot - off Jurong West Avenue 2 - and 26 bus services from the Jurong East, Bukit Batok and Clementi bus interchanges progressively from the second quarter of 2016.

These services are currently run by SMRT and SBS Transit. The company will get an estimated total fee of $556 million over the five-year contract period to run the services.

Feeder services will run at shorter intervals of six to eight minutes. The current fleet of 290 buses serving the zone will grow to about 380.

The Land Transport Authority said that commuters can expect higher service levels as all bus services will have scheduled headways of no more than 15 minutes in both directions during the morning and evening peaks.

"The restructuring of the public bus industry and the injection of more competition will bring about even higher bus service levels for commuters. With bus contracting, the Government will plan bus services and can thus be more responsive to changes in ridership and commuter needs," said LTA's Chief Executive Officer Chew Men Leong.

Under the new regime, the Government owns the buses and other infrastructure, collects all the revenue from fares and pays transport firms to operate the routes.