S’pore Will Not Have On-Demand Public Bus Service For Now Because It’s Too Expensive

In December last year, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) introduced the On-Demand Public Bus (ODPB) trial. It is currently still in operation but will cease operations on 15 June.

What Is It?

It was an initiative to evaluate the feasibility of operating bus routes and services based on real-time commuter demands, instead of the conventional bus services.

All commuters had to do was download an app where they could book ODPB rides by requesting to be picked up or dropped off at designated bus stops.

Of course, there has to be a restricted area where this service is available.

As such, the defined areas were Joo Koon, Marina-Downtown and from the Central Business District (CBD) to Bedok and Tampines via the Geylang corridor.

And the final verdict of this service?

Not Feasible

Although the whole concept of an on-demand bus service sounds well thought through and workable, it’s unfortunately not feasible. Here are the different reasons why it did not work.

Commuter reactions were mixed

Some commuters were prepared to try the service. According to LTA, there were more than 26,000 rides booked and taken to date as of May 31. Through a passenger survey, they found out that half of those commuters who were aware of ODPB actually tried it.

However, there was also a significant amount of people who were either not aware of it, or just did not bother trying it. Those who chose not to try it said that they were not comfortable with using an application to book a bus ride, and taking the regular bus services were more stable.

Less cost-effective to be scaled up due to high technology costs

Compared to conventional bus services with fixed schedules, the operated mileage in the same area was 18% lower during the ODPB trials. Ultimately, this means that less bus resources were used. Sounds good, right?

Unfortunately, it is currently less cost-effective compared to the regular bus services due to the high software development costs.

Since it’s in the early stages of developing, a larger scale of deploying ODPB services is expected to be more cost effective in the future.

This is possible when the algorithms become more efficient and technology allows for the deployment of unmanned vehicles.

Through this trial, LTA has been able to gain insights into the feasibility of the whole concept. With the insights, gathered, they would also then be able to prepare and improve other trials in the future.

Besides that, they’re also making some improvements to existing services which operate within those areas.

Joo Koon

From 17 June, services 253, 255 and 257 will revert back to its original scheduled intervals before the ODPB trial started.

Marina-Downtown

From 16 June, services 400 and 402 will be merged into a single service 400.

This was due to both services being low-demand, and they both substantially overlapped.

The scheduled interval for the new service is 20 minutes. All bus stops which were covered by bother services previously will be covered by the new service as well.

This provides a more direct journey for areas such as Gardens by the Bay, Marina Barrage, Marina South Pier and Marina Bay Cruise Centre.

Nightrider NR7

NR7 was suspended while the ODPB trial was in operation, and it will be discontinued from 16 June onwards.

During the trial, LTA observed that many NR7 commuters who chose not to use the ODPB service switched to alternatives such as Nite Owl 2N and 4N, which connects the CBD to Bedok, Tampines and Pasir Ris.

After the discontinuation of the service, commuters can use those alternatives.