More than three quarters of a planned tax-funded fleet of 1,000 public buses have been put on the road as at end of 2015, the Land Transport Authority said on Thursday (Jan 7th), reported The Straits Times. The 760 buses are part of the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP), where originally, $1.1 billion was set aside to buy 1,000 additional buses and operate them for 10 years. The LTA said that all 1,000 buses can be expected to be on the road by 2017.
Meanwhile, seven new bus services were introduced between October and December 2015. They were SBS Transit Services 47, 117, 118 and 258, SMRT Service 979 and City Direct Services 664 and 665. Two existing bus services - SBS Transit Service 49 and SMRT Service 983 - were also extended. A total of 61 new buses were deployed for these routes.
The LTA said these new and extended bus services have improved connectivity for residents of Bedok, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong East, Jurong West, Marine Parade, Punggol, Sembawang, Tampines and Yishun. They bring the total number of new or extended services under BSEP to 54. "Commuters can look forward to more new routes in Eunos, Marine Parade and Yishun by March 2016," said an LTA spokesman.
One new route, SBS Transit Service 382, which serves the new housing developments in Punggol West, as well as key amenities such as the new Punggol Safra Clubhouse, started plying on Jan 3rd. Seven additional buses were also deployed to improve five bus services during morning and evening peak hours in the fourth quarter of 2015. In all, 80 weekly peak-hour bus trips were added in this period.
