Debated in Parliament on 26 Jul 2021.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the reasons behind the unsuccessful six-month trial of on-demand public buses in Joo Koon, Marina-Downtown and the Central Business District to Bedok/Tampines; (b) whether the concept of on-demand public buses can work for new towns with low ridership demand and limited public transport connectivity such as the upcoming Tengah estate; and (c) whether the Ministry is open to conducting such a trial in Tengah.
The six-month trial for on-demand public bus was conducted from December 2018 to June 2019 in Joo Koon, Marina-Downtown and Central Business District to Bedok and Tampines. During the trial, commuters could request via a mobile app to be picked up and dropped off at any bus stop within a pre-specified area.
There was low take-up for these on-demand buses. The average ridership per kilometre ranged from 14% to 27% of the scheduled bus services operating in the above areas.
Due to the nature of their operations and lower ridership, on-demand public buses require substantial amounts of public subsidies to remain commercially viable. These are resources which could be used to serve a wider segment of commuters, such as feeder buses to connect residents of new BTO projects to key transport nodes in their towns.
For new residential towns such as Tengah, there are plans to provide residents with good public transport connectivity. These include feeder bus services to the rail network, such as the future Jurong Region Line which will serve Tengah town.
If there are proposals from service providers on further ways to enhance the first-and-last mile connectivity in new towns, LTA will be happy to explore these ideas together with the industry.
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