SINGAPORE — Some regular users of bus service 167 cheered a move by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to reverse its earlier decision to scrap the route, saying that they felt they were heard and that their “grouses” were “properly and appropriately addressed” by the authorities.

After announcing on Nov 17 that it would be withdrawing bus service 167 from the roads come Dec 10, LTA made a U-turn on Tuesday (Nov 28), saying in a Facebook post that it would retain the bus service “for now” and instead operate it at 30-minute intervals throughout the day.

This revised schedule will begin from Dec 17.

Service 167 plies the route from Sembawang to Bukit Merah via the Thomson and Orchard Road areas. 

On Nov 17, LTA said that the service would be scrapped, due in part to an increase in ridership on the recently extended Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), and to reduce “duplication of bus services” with the MRT line.

It also announced changes to the routes of other bus services such as 75, 162 and 162M at the time.

In its Facebook post on Tuesday, LTA said it has ensured that most affected commuters would “still have both MRT and bus options” after the adjustments to the bus services, but it also understands that some commuters “may need more time to adjust, and to try out the new travel routes”.

“This is especially so for service 167, where the change is more extensive,” it noted.

As for the other bus services, it will proceed with its earlier announced changes, which includes the following:

• Service 75 will be shortened to terminate at Bukit Merah Bus Interchange instead of Marina Centre Bus Terminal. Service 121 will ply Cantonment Road enroute to Shenton Way Bus Terminal, to maintain the connectivity between Outram Park MRT Station and the residential estates in the Cantonment Road area in place of service 75 
• Service 859 will ply along Canberra Link and Sembawang Road. The frequency of service 980, which serves a similar sector as service 167 between Sembawang and Thomson Road, will also be increased

The adjustments to all bus routes will now take effect from Dec 17 onwards, instead of Dec 10 as initially planned.

WHAT COMMUTERS SAY

Commuters who will be affected by the changes to service 167 and who previously expressed their disappointment told TODAY on Tuesday that they welcomed this latest news, but the longer 30-minute intervals between each bus is not ideal.

Ms Peggy Chen, who lives in the Upper Thomson area and has bus service 167 at her doorstep, said it was “good” that the authorities were “listening to the ground”.

However, the IT manager in her 50s said that the 30-minute interval was a “rather long waiting time”. The usual waiting time is between 10 and 15 minutes, she said.

She added that it seems like a rather half-hearted attempt at resuming the bus service, where “LTA listens to your voice but then makes it hard for you to really enjoy it”.

“I don’t think there are any buses on the road serving populated places with a 30-minute waiting time.”

Mr Chin Guo Qiang, 34, who works in info-technology services, said the longer interval may serve to subtly encourage commuters to use alternative public transport routes.

The longer intervals could also mean more crowds on each bus ride, especially for legs of commuters’ journeys where bus service 167 was “one of the few bus services available to their destinations,” said Mr Chin.

Mr Adrian Yap, 44, a data analyst, said: “It is right that LTA decided to take our community feedback into consideration and it may have done proper investigation or research to ensure that our grouses were properly heard and appropriately addressed.”

He suggested, though, that instead of increasing the frequency of bus service 980, which “does not travel through downtown areas”, to retain 167 and withdraw 980 or reduce its frequency.

“Or probably, for the northern segment covered by both of them, bus 167 should continue with the original route towards Sembawang, while bus 980 can be diverted to a different route from Novena.”

Mr Yap also said that from his personal experience, bus service 167 “remains a popular choice”, especially for those living in the northern region, when heading to town.

As for the newly announced 30-minute interval, he commented: “I would foresee that the bus will be much more crowded and it may add more commuter woes.”

He added: “I do hope that LTA will continue to explore more sustainable options for people who live in the regions that are not adequately served by current MRT lines, especially the northern region.”

Mr Asrulnizam, 39, a facilities manager who goes by one name, said: “I will need to re-adjust my timing in getting ready for work (and) wake up earlier than usual.”

He added that it would be good if LTA and other relevant authorities could get commuters’ feedback in future before changing any bus routes, because the changes might prove difficult for many people to adapt to them, especially older commuters.

Ms Chen the Upper Thomson resident said that overall, it might be difficult to assess how commuters would take to the new 30-minute intervals and if they would be inclined to take other bus routes or the MRT as a result.

The assessment of commuter experience may not be that accurate if the authorities do it in December since it is a “school holiday” month and many people are typically out of the country travelling, she added. It would be more “conclusive” to determine the impact of these changes after the Chinese New Year festivities at least.

Ultimately, however, Mr Chin believes the reinstatement of the bus service will serve only as an “interim plan” to allow commuters to adapt to alternative transport routes.

“This (reinstatement) is more of an interim plan, so that commuters can adapt and see if the alternative travel methods are viable or not,” said Mr Chin.

“Bus service 167 will no doubt be removed eventually, so the best option now is to adapt to alternative commute plans instead, only leveraging bus 167 if waiting time is not an issue.”

LTA said on Tuesday: “We seek commuters’ understanding that it is not always possible to preserve direct bus connections for every journey.

“This is not the best use of our limited resources. As new transport options such as the TEL and other MRT lines become available, and when Singaporeans move into new estates and workplaces, new bus services will be required for these new routes.”

It added that it would continue to review its bus network and “reallocate our finite resources as required” to serve the travelling needs of commuters throughout Singapore.