SMRT adds 573 buses to its fleet

SINGAPORE — Public transport operator SMRT will add 573 new buses — its largest such exercise to date — as part of efforts to increase capacity on longer routes and renew its fleet.

Of the 573 buses to be added by 2016, 218 are funded under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP), which was started by the Government in 2012 to improve bus services.

Confirming the delivery of these buses, SMRT yesterday said that 201 double-decker buses, 332 12-metre buses and 40 bendy buses, will be added to its fleet.

The first batch of 30 buses will hit the roads in July, according to SMRT, which currently has 1,200 buses in its fleet and employs 2,500 drivers.

SMRT said in a statement that the addition of double-decker buses will help ease crowding during peak hours, particularly on longer routes with high passenger loads. The company will also replace older bus models and address the need for more bus trips and better bus service levels.

But the transport operator declined to comment on TODAY’s queries about the number of buses being replaced, the cost of the new buses and whether the cost will be passed on to commuters.

SMRT operates bus services from interchanges at Bukit Panjang, Bukit Batok, Choa Chu Kang, Sembawang, Woodlands and Yishun. The new buses will enable SMRT to address “increasingly dynamic road conditions and ensure enhanced capacity in handling increased ridership”, said Senior Vice-President for SMRT Roads Benny Lim.

Beyond the initial 30 buses, the remaining will be introduced progressively till the end of 2016, said the transport operator.

“The deployment of new buses and recruitment of bus drivers will be adjusted according to capacity needs,” said SMRT’s Media and Marketing Director Alina Boey.

SMRT runs a quarter of the basic bus services here, while SBS Transit runs the rest. SBS Transit said it has been renewing and expanding its bus fleet since 2006 and the operator has committed S$1.1 billion for more than 2,600 buses since then.

“Our latest purchase was made in 2012 for 1,000 buses, which are being delivered over the next few years until 2015,” said SBS Transit spokeswoman Tammy Tan.

More buses are on the way under the BSEP, which the Government will further boost with an additional 450 state-funded buses.

The S$1.1 billion BSEP, initially budgeted for the purchase and running of 550 new buses for 10 years, was expanded to include these buses between next year and 2017, doubling bus routes to 80 and bringing the total number of Government-funded buses to 1,000 by 2017.

Announcing the programme’s expansion at the Committee of Supply debate last month, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew assured Parliament that the public transport operators “make no profit” in running the 550 state-funded buses and will not make a profit on the additional 450 buses.

Explaining the cost of running the additional buses, Mr Lui said each bus costs about half-a-million dollars on average and incur an operating cost of S$600 to S$700 on a typical day.