'Door-to-door' shuttle trial to shave soldiers' commuting time to far-flung military camp

SINGAPORE — National servicemen based at the Kranji Camp III who used to take up to two hours to get to camp can now get a shorter and more convenient commute through a “door-to-door” shuttle service operated by ride-hailing firm Grab.

Under a ground-up initiative proposed by the camp’s commanders, GrabShuttle Plus now plies routes from various housing areas across the island — including Punggol, Sengkang, Hougang, Sembawang, Yishun, Jurong, Bukit Panjang and Bukit Batok — to and from the camp, daily.

Instead of having to make the two-kilometre trek from the nearest MRT station to and from the camp every day, the soldiers have the option of hopping onto the minibuses which typically pick them up between 6.10am and 6.40am in the morning, and will arrive at the camp by 7.15am. In the evenings, they set out from the camp between 5.20pm to 5.30pm and will arrive in each neighbourhood at 6.30pm.

The GrabShuttle trial, which started last Tuesday (July 3), also includes a fixed service that shuttles between Yew Tee MRT Station and the camp on Monday nights, and from the camp to the station on Thursday evenings.

Announcing the Kranji Camp III initiative on its Facebook page on Monday (July 9), the army said the camp is monitoring ridership rates which “look promising thus far, with buses full during peak periods”.

“If the trial services prove to be successful, the services may be expanded to include more timings and neighbourhoods. This model could also be studied for adaptation in other camps,” it wrote.

For the trial, the neighbourhoods and routes covered were derived by Grab, which collated the postal codes of those keen on using the service.

Fares range from S$2 per trip for the service to and from Yew Tee MRT station, up to S$4 for shuttles serving the housing areas.

GrabShuttle Plus started in November last year to offer personalised bus services to and from bus stops in the Punggol, Sengkang, Bedok, Tampines and Pasir Ris.

Services to the housing areas are served by 13-seater minibuses while the service to and from Yew Tee MRT station uses two 23-seater buses, each making two trips.

In the Facebook post, Lieutenant-Colonel Choy Yong Cong, who was part of the team that mooted the initiative, said some servicemen have been taking a longer time to get to work with the consolidation of camps into larger and vast multiplexes.

“The idea to latch onto GrabShuttle was thus conceived to enable our servicemen to travel to and from camp more conveniently, and to cut down on their commute time,” he said.

LTC Choy, who is Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment, speaks from experience.

“When I was in Lim Chu Kang Camp, and when we had nights off for the soldiers, not many of them wanted to (get out of the camp) because it was so far away with few public bus services,” he said.

He was then tasked to look into getting shuttle buses for the soldiers, but none of the companies “could or wanted to entertain a business based on dynamic demand and needs”.

“The idea was ahead of its time, until ride-sharing services came along,” he said.

In response to TODAY’s queries, a Grab spokesperson said response to the trial has been “encouraging” thus far.

“Soldiers and staff appreciate that they no longer have to make multiple transfers when commuting to and from camp, and that travelling time has significantly reduced,” she said, citing a soldier who shaved overall traveling time by half.

The GrabShuttle Plus service was intended to complement Singapore’s public transport network by improving connectivity to remote locations, including military camps.

Grab also works with corporations in industrial areas like Seletar, Jurong Island and Ascendas Science Park via its GrabShuttle Plus service.

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