Five new private bus services to complement existing feeder bus services

Residents in Ang Mo Kio, Clementi, Yishun and Woodlands will be able to enjoy a less congested ride when they take feeder buses during peak hours, reported The Straits Times.

Contracts for two private bus operators - to run five 'peak period short services' to connect commuters to nearby MRT stations and bus interchanges - have been awarded, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday.

The services, which will be launched progressively from the end of the year, will run for two years and complement existing feeder bus services run by public transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT.

Four of the five new contracts and routes went to Bus-Plus Services. One service will be from Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, to complement SBS Transit's service 265.

In Clementi, a new service to complement SBS Transit's service 285 will connect commuters from the estate's bus and train interchange to West Coast Road.

Yishun residents will get two new services - one from Yishun Bus Interchange to Yishun Avenue 1, to complement SMRT bus service 811; and the other from Yishun Bus Interchange to Yishun Avenue 3, to complement SMRT service 812.

Bus-Plus Services will be paid about $780,000 to run the new feeder service in Ang Mo Kio, $1.2 million for the Clementi service and around $1 million each for the two routes in Yishun over the course of the two-year agreement.

The other operator, Rui Feng Chartered, will run a service from Woodlands Bus Interchange to Marsiling Lane, to complement SMRT service 903. The contract value is about $1.3 million.