The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the public transport operators, SBS Transit and SMRT, are continuously looking at ways to improve basic bus services.

During his visit to the Distance Fares roadshow at Boon Lay Bus Interchange this morning, Mr Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, announced that the LTA and the operators identified 20 heavily-used bus services for improvement.

The operators will be introducing improvement measures, such as deploying higher capacity buses and adding bus trips along the sectors that the bus services are experiencing heavy usage. Commuters of these services who are travelling along the heavily-used stretches will benefit from the increase in the number of bus trips during peak hours. (Please refer to the Annex for a list of these bus services.)

Said LTA's Acting Chief Executive, Mr Lim Bok Ngam, "Although SBST and SMRT Buses have met the Quality of Service standards, they continue to look at ways to add more capacity to the heavily-used bus services. LTA and the operators conduct quarterly regular reviews to identify any services which can be further improved. These 20 services are identified from the latest review. It is our priority to relief crowding on our buses and we will do whatever we can, even if it is incremental, to improve commuters' travelling experience."

"SBS Transit is committed to provide commuters with reliable and affordable train and bus services. In this regard, we continually add more trips to increase frequency and capacity on our more crowded bus routes and train services, according to changes in travel demands and patterns. Improvements to the bus services that will be implemented on Monday, 28 June, are examples of our continual efforts to meet our commuters' expectations. We will continue to do more," said Mr Gan Juay Kiat, Chief Executive Officer, SBS Transit.

Ms Kang Huey Ling, Vice President, SMRT Buses Ltd said, "SMRT is committed to improving our bus services to enhance the travel experience of commuters. We support the government's efforts to encourage more Singaporeans to make public transport a choice, and are pleased to improve capacity for 10 bus services which will further boost our service offerings for the public."

Annex

List of bus services with capacity improvement along sectors of heavy-usage.