The Joo Chiat area deserves a new service given all the new
condominiums that have popped up. The only issue are narrow roads.
The area is actually quite dense for a private housing
estate.
Options 1 & 2 are unlikely. Option 3 is possible but a loop
from East Coast Road to Joo Chiat Road is not possible as the
left-turning lane from EC to JC is way too narrow for buses. So you
would have to reverse the loop to ply Joo Chiat Road > East
Coast Rd > Marine Parade Rd > Joo Chiat Rd.
But I feel that serving Koon Seng Rd is more impactful than Joo
Chiat Place. By serving Koon Seng Road, you can serve Haig Girls'
School as well as many private apartments/condominiums along the
stretch, and commuters would be within walking distance to
condominiums in Duku Road. Joo Chiat Place contains more two-storey
shophouses.
Of course, a fellow forummer has just thrown a spanner into the
whole discussion by suggesting 76 may be extended to Eunos. If so,
then I forsee it will ply Marine Parade Rd > Bedok South Av
1 > Bedok South Rd > New Upp Changi Rd > Changi Rd >
Jln Turi. I can see why as
it would serve both Kembangan and Chai Chee, connecting these
estates to Marine Parade. But it is a huge loop that will take a
damn long time for Kembangan commuters to reach Marine Parade. It
won't serve either estates very directly either. It will duplicate
so many services along Bedok South Rd/Av 1. Plus extending an
already long service is just a recipe for unreliable service. This
extension will be about 7 km long, meaning the new route would be
up to 25km long. If it actually served Chai Chee Dr and Chai Chee
St, which would be much more effective, it would be even
longer.
But judging by how LTA thinks, I wouldn't put it past them. They
seem most obsessed with loading lately by introducing much longer
routes that are very safe. Extending 76 is a very safe option. As
usual people in the East lose out :(
Lost sectors at Marine Terrace can be covered by a new Eunos
> Still Rd > Still Rd Sth > Marine Parade Rd > Marine
Terrace (Loop).
That's why I myself mentioned option 3 is more probable. Koon
Seng Road also possible but road quite small.
76 extending to Eunos is absurd. It needs to serve Marine
Crescent important link to Paya Lebar/Tanjong Katong.