354 is different. Look at how many people go to Downtown East
everyday. And now even the tourists occupy a large proportion too.
When you go to PSR MRT you will know why 354 is so crowded. Why?
Coz of the signs there. At the station big words saying "Take svc
354 to Downtown East" can be clearly seen around the information
counter. And also at the int too. "354: Downtown East/Jln Loyang
Besar" and for those who don't stay at PSR (which is the majority
of Downtown East visitors) will not know Downtown east is within
walking distance and there are at least 3 other alt svcs to get
there. It's thanks to this tactic that svc 354 gets to survive and
in fact receive fleet add.
But 882 is different. Why did I compare to 84? Becoz both buses
well served the faraway northern ends of Singapore. And both pass
by parks and only served that bit of HDB. And not to forget, both
has little perms and horrible freq. Using svc 84 I am trying to say
that 882 DOES have demand, but that it does not need more buses
becoz the current fleet is handling the pax well.
882 provides the link formerly covered by 167 and 84 provides
the link formerly covered by 82.
BTOs on both SBW and PGL would most likely to affect 882 and 84
respectively
SBW svcs are 167, 859, 882, 980 and 981, all of which are trunk
svcs. 981 operates in one direction in AM Peak and another in PM
Peak. 859A is a SWT acting as a feeder in SBW.
frequency
167: 7 to 17 mins (7 to 17 mins and 10 to16 mins)
859: 6 to 18 mins (8 to 18 mins and 6 to 14 mins)
882: 12 to 18 mins
980: 12 to 18 mins (12 to 18 mins and 14 to 16 mins)
981: N/A
(source : SMRT official site; eBus Guide)
from this, i would think the 980 has a bad frequency in terms of
average waiting time
