I have a different view point on sv 50. It is an enabler if I
can say. Having Wrights on it helps reduce the load on 159 to ITE
in morning peak at the same time is another alternative to Seagate
that encourages a few passengers to take the bus from Jubilee
rather than 88 from AMK Ave 3.
Again, it helps people on Sengkang West, East Ave, Anchorvale to
reach Sengkang by the fastest route, so there can be spot loading
for this service in this area.
In morning peak, I have also observed people from Punggol East
Way taking bus to Sengkang, where earlier they relied on 85 that is
a longer route or 62 that took them to Hougang.
The loading on 50 is the best among 4, 116, 120... Also to your
point 72 and 88 have required fair number of DD upgrades. 72 had 21
DDs last year, today it has 28. 88 has 22 DDs last year, today it
has 28 DDs and that too full fleet DDs. Major improvement by SBST
and managing both services very well.
In fact, sv 72 DDs hardly cross 60 pax now days because of the
improved frequency. You have a bus every 05 minutes.
Your observation of the paxs/route are all based on short
distance... dun think the paxs want to go to the upper deck..
Citaros plus 3-4 wrights should be enough.. if i am at AMK
mrt, i will simply go wait for sv88 with good frequency (5-8 mins)
during peak rather than walking all the way to jubilee and wait for
sv50 with a peak frequency of 12 mins at least?
as for Sv72/88, it is SBST who provided the upgrade in the
fleet.. LTA/BSEP should have to provide more buses for these two
services instead of SBST....