SBS Transit

Infobox Company
company_name = SBS Transit Ltd
company_
company_type = Public (SGX: [http://info.sgx.com/serviceapp.nsf/23f7d809b35095dd48256dad001f2ebe/1cfd9a29c9342c1c482571650030416b?OpenDocument SBSTransit] )
foundation = 1973
location = Singapore
key_people = Lim Jit Poh (Chairman)
Kua Hong Pak (Deputy Chairman)
Gan Juay Kiat (Chief Operating Officer)

num_employees = 7312 (2006)
industry = Public Transport
products = Bus and Rail Services in Singapore
revenue = profit S$670.0 million SGD (2007)
operating_income = loss S$53.4 million SGD (2007)
net_income = loss S$50.0 million SGD (2007)
homepage = [http://www.sbstransit.com.sg http://www.sbstransit.com.sg]

SBS Transit Limited (zh-sp|s=新捷运|p=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

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

SBS Transit currently operates 75% of the scheduled bus market share in Singapore with 238 bus services and has a total fleet of more than 2,700 buses. More than 92% of the buses are air-conditioned. Recently, SBS Transit ordered 900 buses from Scania as part of its fleet renewal programme, while also evaluating wheelchair accessible chassis offers from Volvo and MAN.

The current bus fleet includes:
* Volvo B10BLE
* Volvo B10M Mk III and Mk IV
* Volvo B10TL Super Olympian
* Volvo B9TL
* Volvo B7RLE
* Dennis Trident 3
* Volvo Olympian
* Leyland Olympian
* Scania L94UB
* Scania K230UB
* MAN 18.240 HOCL-NL
* Dennis Dart
* Mercedes-Benz O405
* Scania N113CRB

The company operates buses from 7 depots/bus park located at Ang Mo Kio, Ayer Rajah, Bedok North, Bukit Batok, Braddell, Hougang and Soon Lee.

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. (Somewhat identical 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)
* Jurong Industrial Service: Services that served mainly industrial workers in the Jurong and Tuas industrial areas. These services operate with only 5 fare bands, compared to 8 fare bands for trunk services.
* 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 $2.50(ez-link)/$3.00(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 consists of Alstom Metropolis cars.

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 [ [http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/generalinfo/operational.aspx SBS Transit] ] [ [http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/about/operational.aspx Welcome to SBS Transit ] ]

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.

ee also

* TVMobile - an outdoor digital television station installed in SBS Transit buses.

References

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

External links

* [http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/ SBS Transit official site]