SBS Transit

SBS Transit Ltd

File:SBS Transit logo.png
Company type	Public (SGX: SBSTransit)
Industry	Public Transport
Founded	1973
Headquarters	Singapore
Key people	Lim Jit Poh (Chairman) Kua Hong Pak (Deputy Chairman) Gan Juay Kiat (Executive Director)
Products	Bus and Rail Services in Singapore
Revenue	S$729.6 million SGD (2008)
Operating income	S$47.1 million SGD (2008)
Net income	S$40.6 million SGD (2008)
Number of employees	7312 (2006)
Website	http://www.sbstransit.com.sg

SBS Transit Limited (Chinese: 新捷运; pinyin: Xīnjiéyùn, SGX: S61 ) is a public transport operator in Singapore. Their major competitor in Singapore's duopoly transport system is SMRT Corporation, which also operates bus, rail, taxi and other transport services.

The company (organisation) was formed as a separately-listed subsidiary in November 1997 under the name of Singapore Bus Services Limited, although it can trace its history back to the formation of Singapore Bus Service in 1973 with the merger of three bus companies. On 1 November 2001, the company's name was changed to SBS Transit Limited to reflect its status as a bus and rail operator.

Its parent company is ComfortDelGro Corporation, which was formerly known as DelGro Corporation Limited. The parent company has Singapore Bus Service as its direct predecessor.

In 2003, SBS Transit started operating the North East MRT Line of the Mass Rapid Transit system in addition to its existing bus operations.

History

Main article: Singapore Bus Service

Singapore Bus Service (SBS) was initially formed in 1973 with the merger of three private bus companies. The government-sanctioned merger was undertaken to improve service standards of the bus transport system.

With the shift towards the creation of multi-modal transport companies, Singapore Bus Service Ltd changed its name to DelGro Corporation Limited in November 1997. Bus operations were hived-off to a fully-owned subsidiary called Singapore Bus Services Limited, which was separately listed on the Singapore Exchange.

In November 2001, Singapore Bus Services Limited was renamed as SBS Transit Limited when the company formally became a multi-modal transport operator with the impending opening of the Sengkang LRT Line.

Operations

SBS Transit's primary business is providing public transport services in Singapore. Its more notable operations are the following.

• Bus operations in Singapore, comprising a fleet of about 2,700 buses, serving almost the entire island
• Rapid transit operations along the North East Line of the MRT network and its 16 stations
• Light rail operations and manages the 29 stations along the Sengkang and Punggol LRT lines.

Bus fleet and pictures

SBS Transit currently operates 75% of the scheduled bus market share in Singapore with more than 265 bus services and has a total fleet of more than 2,800 buses. All but 95 buses are air-conditioned. Recently, SBS Transit ordered 900 buses from Scania as part of its fleet renewal programme, while evaluating wheelchair accessible chassis offers from Volvo and MAN.

Model	Image	Bodymaker	Year Introduced	Units Introduced
Dennis Dart		Duple Metsec	1993-1994	10
Dennis Trident 3		Duple Metsec	1999-2000	20
Leyland Olympian 3-Axle		Walter Alexander	1993	200
MAN 18.240 HOCL-NL		Gemilang	2008	1
Mercedes-Benz O405		Duple Metsec	1989-1991	500
		Walter Alexander		200
Scania L94UB		Volgren	1998	1
Scania K230UB		Gemilang	2006-2011	900 (Deliveries ongoing)
Scania N113CRB		Walter Alexander	1989	200
Volvo B7RLE		Soon Chow	2007	1
Volvo B9TL		ComfortDelgro Engineering	2006	200
Volvo B10BLE		Volgren	1997 (Diesel)	1
			2001-2002 (CNG)	12
Volvo B10M		Duple Metsec	1992-1993 (Mk 3)	300
		Duple Metsec	1995-1997 (Mk 4)	115
		Walter Alexander	1996-1997 (Mk 4)	200
		Soon Chow		10
		Duple Metsec	2001 (Mk 4)	150
Volvo Olympian		Walter Alexander	1994 (2-axle non-aircon)	100
			1996-1999 (3-axle aircon)	471
Volvo Super Olympian		Volgren	1999, 2002-2003	51
		ComfortDelgro Engineering	2005	1

Bus routes

SBS Transit operates many different types of bus routes and bus services, taking up the majority of the pie of Singapore's duopoly bus system in almost all areas of Singapore, with the notable exception of the North and Northwest areas, where bus services are mainly run by its competitor, SMRT Corporation.

• Trunk: Routes that ply between towns. These are the basic forms of SBS Transit bus services. Fares are distance-related and differential up to 8 fare bands.
• Short working Trips (SWT): Routes that operate short haul trips between origin-destination pairs with high demand, such as the area near an MRT station. It operated a subset of the parent route and there can be more than one SWT per trunk route.
• Feeder: Services that operate within a neighbourhood, connecting outlying areas to the town centre or bus interchange. (Loops around from an interchange, around one or more neighbourhoods or towns and then terminates at the starting interchange). As a name suggest, it is to feed the commuters to the trunk services or MRT services at the terminal/interchange. A flat fare, equivalent to the first fare band is charged per entry.
• TownLink: Routes that consist of combined feeder services to provide links and improve connectivity between neighborhoods within the same town. (Similar to a feeder service except that, other than when stopping a 'session', the service will not terminate at the interchange but will re-run it's route immediately after letting passengers alight, in essence, a true loop)
• Express: Routes that stop at several nominated and sparsely located stops and generally run on expressways for faster travel between several towns. This is a basic-plus service charging higher fares.
• Fast Forward: A modification of basic trunk routes, Fast Forwards are an innovation of SBS Transit, which provides faster travel between places where there is higher demand, by calling at fewer stops and skipping low demand areas. This is also a basic-plus services charging higher fares.
• Premium: A single trip from the designated neighborhoods during the morning peak hours on weekdays to the CBD. Fees are flat rated ($3.30 or $3.60 depending on the distance traveled) and standing is prohibited on Premium Services. The scheduled arrival time at individual bus stops are provided.
• CityShopper: Running during daytime on weekdays and whole day on weekends, these premium services bring residents from designated new town neighbourhoods to Orchard Rd and Suntec City quickly and comfortably. Fees are flat rated ($3.30 or $3.60 for adults and $1 for child/student) and standing is prohibited on CityShopper Services. The frequency is 30 minutes.
• Nite Owl: These are after-hour services on Fridays, Saturdays and eve of public holidays. There are only a handful of bus routes for this service and fees are $1.50 (ez-link/cash)(within town area) and $4.00(ez-link/cash)(between CBD and town area).
• Chinatown Direct: Introduced in 2005, these are routes that run from suburban towns to Chinatown via the expressways. Such routes are very popular in the period before the Lunar New Year. A fare of $1.80 is charged per boarding ($1 for child/concession card holders).
• Parks: Services that run from major parks to the nearest bus interchange.
• Stadium Direct: Services that run from the Singapore Indoor Stadium to major towns after major concerts or events being held there.

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

SBS Transit is the operator of the North East Line since it opened in 2003. The North East Line is the third Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore, and also the world's first fully underground and automated rapid transit line. The line is 20 km long with 16 stations.

The operating license was given to SBS Transit in order to foster competition with SMRT Corporation and to create multi-modal public transport companies, each specializing in their own district.

As the name implies, the line connects central Singapore to the northeastern part of the island. Transfer to the North South Line is provided at Dhoby Ghaut station and East West Line at Outram Park station. The rolling stock used is Alstom Metropolis.

Light Rapid Transit (LRT)

In addition of the North East Line, SBS Transit is also operates two LRT systems, Sengkang and Punggol. Both lines connect the estate to one of two NEL Stations and is total of 29 stations including Sengkang and Punggol interchange stations.

Key operating statistics

Monthly Ridership for Bus and Rail

Month	2003		2004		2005		2006		2007		2008		2009
	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail
January	71,225,011	173,786	64,324,473	6,004,948	64,885,728	6,834,446	62,247,969	7,683,908	67,380,546	8,857,847	73,235,547	10,482,340	69,833,080	11,376,659
February	60,357,864	176,260	62,548,766	5,295,081	56,837,060	6,057,296	59,854,200	6,822,060	59,429,412	8,255,520	65,270,126	9,638,353	65,783,396	10,073,000
March	66,842,727	205,468	66,351,036	5,746,222	64,890,223	6,732,828	65,965,396	7,590,381	68,315,754	9,157,896	69,948,803	10,286,389
April	57,407,730	179,940	63,487,500	5,435,070	62,479,980	6,426,390	62,070,030	7,224,930	64,984,800	8,541,180	70,427,160	10,036,560
May	64,069,312	230,950	64,064,538	5,826,574	62,302,994	6,740,609	65,193,992	7,645,809	68,075,039	9,165,708	71,036,035	10,496,414
June	61,078,440	5,754,480	58,792,110	5,786,490	59,278,140	6,729,450	60,320,040	7,486,080	63,261,870	9,135,180	66,607,710	10,403,520
July	66,929,000	4,896,605	66,508,609	6,105,977	64,967,196	7,107,649	66,616,613	7,900,846	69,919,973	9,518,922	74,758,329	11,221,008
August	66,998,998	5,209,860	65,082,175	6,010,931	65,473,116	7,075,905	67,592,493	7,991,924	70,018,739	9,570,413	73,311,156	11,135,107
September	64,138,650	5,070,510	62,920,620	5,908,380	62,254,350	6,956,040	63,886,170	7,847,130	66,016,800	9,226,680	70,400,310	10,886,250
October	65,437,838	5,327,040	63,445,158	6,039,513	63,613,023	7,232,610	64,805,469	8,775,790	69,212,119	9,854,032	71,997,252	11,430,258
November	60,143,490	5,176,680	58,936,800	6,008,850	59,570,430	7,016,160	63,188,790	8,779,170	64,996,140	9,630,330	67,726,470	10,830,150
December	60,760,868	5,871,276	60,215,888	6,575,844	60,499,569	7,653,001	61,434,405	9,420,497	64,456,068	10,454,285	66,448,221	11,614,181
Year Total	765,389,928	38,272,855	756,677,673	70,743,880	747,051,809	82,562,384	763,175,567	95,168,525	796,067,260	111,337,993	841,167,119	128,460,530

Notes

• Rail ridership includes North East Line (NEL), Sengkang LRT and Punggol LRT rides.
• The Sengkang LRT and NEL commenced revenue service on 18 January 2003 and 20 June 2003 respectively. The Punggol LRT began service on 29 January 2005.
• Monthly rail ridership exceeded 10 million for the first time in December 2007.

See also

• TVMobile - an outdoor digital television station installed in SBS Transit buses.
• SBS Transit Service 143 - an up-to-date article on an SBS Transit-operated route.

References

• Ilsa Sharp, (2005), SNP:Editions, The Journey - Singapore's Land Transport Story. ISBN 981-248-101-X

External links

• SBS Transit official site