I never tried the peak hours, but I just spent more than 14mins
to wait for a ride to Jalan Kayu to swope 86. I couldn't wait much
longer and ended up taking 858 down :/ It's around 8:45pm.
No wonder.
Reason why it takes so long is becoz despite its long waiting
time, the number of people on the ride from Yishun all the way to
Punggol will have at most 35 pax only. I rode it once during 8.20pm
and have countlessly seen the empty buses at Anchorvale. Once, I
saw one that was LITERALLY EMPTY. Maybe due to the lack of
developments at the areas 85 exclusively serve, very little people
will choose 85 over 965 to get back to the northeast. And yes, this
caused a domino effect on svc 85's freq too. The peak hours were
better though. Though again not much, but at least I won't get fed
up from waiting for a bus then.
A little advice to you: try to keep to the schedule so that you
won't have to wait in agony. That's what I and a few of my other
friends do when we wait for a bus with horrible frequency. Or
during early morning or late night. Look at the time, know when to
set out, board punctually and you won't have to warm up the
bench.