Route
extension to bus service 181.
I would like to propose a route extension to existing bus
service 181.
Currently, bus service 181 runs between Boon Lay Bus Interchange
and Jurong West Avenue 3, and loops at the turnabout space at the
end of Jurong West Avenue 3. It connects people between Jurong West
Avenue 3 and Jurong West Street 75 and 64. It complements bus
services 172 and 199 to connect people staying along Jurong West
Avenue 3 to Boon Lay MRT Station. It complements bus service 243 to
connect people staying along Jurong West Street 75 and 64 to Boon
Lay MRT Station. Bus Service 181 is popular among the people who
live, work and play in the Gek Poh neighbourhood of Jurong
West.
I feel that bus service 181 has the potential to provide more
bus connections for people in the Gek Poh neighbourhood, and serve
more areas in Jurong West.
As of now, MRT Chinese Garden station is under-utilised; few
people use the station, and only two bus services 180 and 335
connect to the station. Meanwhile, Jurong West Avenue 3 is in a
location where MRT Boon Lay station is not exactly the nearest MRT
station.
It would be good if we can extend the route of bus service 181
to connect Hong Kah neighbourhood and Jurong West Avenue 3 to MRT
Chinese Garden station. This would encourage more people to use MRT
Chinese Garden station, enhance the public transport connection
between Jurong West Avenue 3 and the rest of the island, and
enhance the bus connection between Jurong West Street 64 and 75,
and Jurong West Avenue 1.
If the extended route of bus service 181 is short and travel
times are comparable to that on existing public transport routes
available for the above-mentioned connections, it would encourage
the people to switch to bus service 181, thus relieve the loading
off existing public transport routes.
In my proposed extension, bus service 181 turns right after
Jurong West Avenue 3 and extends from Jurong West Street 22 towards
MRT Chinese Garden station; it turns left after Jurong West Street
22 and continues on Jurong West Avenue 3 towards Boon Lay Bus
Interchange. No bus stop is skipped.
From Jurong West Street 22 to MRT Chinese Garden station and
back, the route is as follows,
Jurong West Street 22 > Jurong West Street 23 > Jurong
West Avenue 2 > Corporation Road > Jurong West Avenue 1 >
Jurong East Avenue 1 > Jurong Town Hall Road > Boon Lay Way
(MRT Chinese Garden station) > Jurong East
Street 31 > Jurong East Avenue 1 > Jurong West Avenue 1 >
Corporation Road > Jurong West Avenue 2 > Jurong West Street
23 > Jurong West Street 22.
The current length of bus service 181 is 6.4 kilometres and the
travel time is 38 minutes. The extended length is 9.48 kilometres
and travelling to MRT Chinese Garden station and back takes 15 to
42 minutes; the extension would increase the length of bus service
181 to 15.88 kilometres (6.4 + 9.48) and increase the travel time
to 80 minutes (38 + 42). As such, the bus fleet on service 181 has
to increase by 111%, from the 6 buses it has now to 13 buses; 7
more buses.
Today, the bus connections between Jurong West Street 64 and
Jurong East Avenue 1 are very popular, especially during peak hours
when double decker buses on bus services have high amounts of
loading. Although there is already a short-working trip of bus
service 198 running from Boon Lay Bus Interchange to Jurong East
Avenue 1 during morning peak hours, I feel that there is room for
improvement. The extension of bus service 181 to Jurong East Avenue
1 would enhance the bus connection between Jurong West Street 64
and Jurong East Avenue 1.
Today, the fastest route from MRT Chinese Garden station to
Jurong West Avenue 3 is provided by the MRT East-West Line with a
transfer at MRT Boon Lay station to bus service 181. The distance
travelled is 6.6 kilometres and the journey takes 41 minutes
(including transfer). With the extension, one can transfer to bus
service 181 from the MRT East-West Line at MRT Chinese Garden
station and get to Jurong West Avenue 3 in 37 minutes (including 5
minutes of transfer), with the distance travelled at only 4.85
kilometres! This is a saving of 4 minutes (41 – 37) and 1.75
kilometres (6.6 – 4.85).
Today, the fastest route from MRT Jurong East station to Jurong
Canal area is provided by bus service 334, which is 3.1 kilometres
and takes up to 24 minutes (including 5 minutes of transfer) to
travel from Jurong East Bus Interchange to Jurong Canal area. With
the extension, one can take the MRT up by one stop to MRT Chinese
Garden station and take bus service 181 to get to Jurong Canal area
in 13 minutes (including 5 minutes of transfer), with the distance
travelled at only 2.93km! This is a saving of 11 minutes (24 – 13)
and 0.17 kilometres (3.1 – 2.93).
The extension of bus service 181 enhances the public transport
connection between the Gek Poh neighbourhood and Hong Kah
neighbourhood in Jurong West. It provides a shorter and faster
alternative to existing public transport routes from the MRT to
Jurong Canal area and Jurong West Avenue 3. If introduced, I
believe it will be well-received by the people in Jurong West.
Unfortunately this is a bit far-fetched. Based on east-west
alignment, Boon Lay is still the nearest MRT station for Jurong
West Ave 3 / St 23 residents. Extending to Lakeside is already
straining for the route. Let alone Chinese Garden.
As for the stretch of Jurong East Ave 1, aside from 198, there
is still 157/187 to share the load to Boon Lay. Don't need 181.
Link between Jurong West Ave 3 and Jurong East Ave 1 is also
already covered by 185.
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(Side comment shelved)
