SBS Transit Trials AI for More Reliable Bus Arrivals

24 September 2026 – When roads become congested or bad weather hits, buses can get held up along the way. After a prolonged wait, your bus finally turns the corner, only for a second bus on the same service to appear right behind it. 

Behind the scenes, Service Controllers at the Operations Control Centre furrow their brows as they monitor the screens before them, tracking buses on the road. Keeping buses running at regular intervals is a complex task, as traffic conditions can change quickly. Each Service Controller may oversee up to 70 buses at a time, making it challenging to determine which services require closer monitoring and when intervention is needed. 

Holding back a bus or adjusting its departure time at an interchange can have a snowball effect on subsequent trips. A decision made for one bus can therefore affect the regularity of the service further down the road. 

To help Service Controllers manage this more effectively, SBS Transit has invested in an AI solution known as FlowOS. A first for Singapore’s public bus industry, FlowOS is an AI-enabled decision-support tool that continuously analyses live bus operations and recommends interventions to enhance service reliability. 

As conditions on the road change, FlowOS continuously reassesses the situation, prioritises the issues that require attention and recommends interventions to help keep buses more evenly spaced along their routes. Uniquely, it combines real-time analysis with the experience of Service Controllers, enabling them to make faster, better-informed decisions and helping to make journeys more dependable for commuters. 

SBS Transit Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Jeffrey Sim, said: “Keeping buses running at regular intervals is one of the most complex aspects of bus operations, especially when conditions on the road can be dynamic and unpredictable. Many factors, such as adverse weather, accidents and roads rendered impassable to vehicular traffic, are beyond our control and can affect our buses on the road. By employing AI technology through the FlowOS tool, we are empowering our Service Controllers to make better-informed decisions and respond more effectively to deliver reliable journeys for our commuters despite these factors.” 

FlowOS is currently being trialled on Services 70 and 145. The trial follows the Memorandum of Understanding signed between SBS Transit and UK-based Prospective Labs in June 2026 to explore the use of FlowOS in local bus operations.  

Mr Sim added: “As a member of the ComfortDelGro Group, we are able to leverage the operational experience of our sister companies and adapt solutions for Singapore to make everyday journeys more dependable for our commuters. In this case, it would be Metroline, which has already deployed FlowOS to improve bus service reliability in the United Kingdom.” 

SBS Transit Senior Service Controller Calvin Chan said: “Several situations can develop at the same time, and it can be difficult to catch every issue immediately. FlowOS is like having a brilliant assistant next to me. It draws my attention to issues that may need action and suggests what I can do. I then use my experience and judgement to decide the best response for the service.”