Hypothesis 1: LTA planned out 381, 383, 384, 385 and maybe a few
more. They just introduced 386 and 382 first.
Hypothesis
2: 38x was once used for Eunos feeders (before 382 merged
with 63 and 385 became 60). Hence they started from 386 for Punggol
so that 380-385 are still reserved for Eunos. But after a while
they found out there's no point for this, so they just used the
entire 38x series for Punggol.
Not sure I agree with both (1) and (2). For (1) they need to be
super good to have done planning so much in advance, and why not
start planning from area that is first getting developed, if you
know what I mean.
For (2), again why would they choose 382 and not 381 in that
case!?!?
These are my 2 guesses
(1) They have 5-6 route planners maybe, and each is given a task
to come up with its own route, and each gets a number to pick. The
route that is most viable and voted the best is finally chosen.
Possible!?!
(2) Numerology... hahaha