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LOW ridership has seen SBS Transit take its CityShopper bus
service off the road.
From Monday, bus services 578, 579 and 581, which take commuters
from Tampines, Punggol and Sengkang to Orchard Road, will be
withdrawn.
Serving fewer stops, the three premium bus services had provided
a direct bus ride for commuters heading to Orchard Road and City
Hall during weekday afternoons and weekends.
Fares cost $3.10 or $3.40, and standing passengers were not
allowed, which guaranteed everyone a seat.
Despite the perks, daily ridership for the three services has
fallen to a low of 185 commuters per day for all three services,
said SBS Transit spokesman Tammy Tan.
Launched in December 2007, the operator's CityShopper service
started with eight services, which ferried commuters from heartland
estates like Ang Mo Kio and Bedok to the downtown shopping
belt.
On the first weekend the services were launched, about 2,600
commuters used the speedy service.
But since then, ridership has dipped, prompting SBS Transit to
gradually pull the services.
Last July, four services were withdrawn. Three months later, a
fifth was suspended. The operating hours of the three remaining
services were also shortened.
They now run only from noon to 4.30pm on weekdays and 10am to
9pm on weekends, at a frequency of about 30 minutes.
When The Straits Times took a ride on service 578 this week,
there were only two other passengers on board the bus en route to
town.
Commuter Jean Sim, 35, said this is a common sight.
'Sometimes, I will have the whole bus to myself,' said the
teacher who lives in Sengkang. She uses service 578 only once a
month to get to town.
When the service is withdrawn, she will have to take a bus from
home to Sengkang MRT station and take the North-East Line to Dhoby
Ghaut, before switching to the North-South Line to City Hall.
'It's a pity that they are stopping the service. I would be
willing to pay up to $5 if they shorten the waiting time,' said Ms
Sim.
Another commuter, who declined to be named, said that perhaps
the CityShopper services could have had better publicity.
'I didn't know about it until I saw the poster one day at the
bus stop,' said the 58-year-old, who takes service 578 from home to
the city to run errands.
Besides the CityShopper services, two of eight Nite Owl services
were also withdrawn by SBS Transit last year.
Such services run from midnight to 2am on Fridays, Saturdays and
the eve of public holidays, taking commuters back home from the
city.
Other niche services like Chinatown Direct, which takes
commuters from the heartland to Chinatown, are still doing well,
said SBS Transit's Ms Tan.
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