SBS Transit aims to complete its bus fleet renewal by 2017

Transport operator SBS Transit's billion-dollar programme to renew and expand its bus fleet is scheduled to be completed in three years' time, reported The Straits Times.

Chief Executive of SBS Transit Gan Juay Kiat said, "We have committed around $1.3 billion to purchase more than 3,000 buses since our fleet renewal programme began in 2006. By 2017, we would have replaced almost the entire fleet, and expanded the fleet by more than 36 percent."

By then, almost its entire fleet will also be wheelchair-accessible. Its latest purchase, worth $311 million, comprised of 665 buses - 250 single-deck Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses and 415 double-deck Volvo B9TL Wright buses. Of these, 296 will be funded by the Government's Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP).

All these buses comply with the stringent Euro 5 emission standard that requires diesel vehicles to be fitted with particulate filters in their exhaust systems, so as to trap fine soot particles that are a serious health hazard.

Delivery of the latest purchase is scheduled to begin in the middle of next year.