If they are going to scrap 700, they better have 960 ply Petir
Road (south part) to cover missing link of 700. The loading on 700
has increased again with some peak hour trips taking 70-80 pax.
They need to be careful if they want to eliminate 700. On the other
hand I agree that 960 does have capacity to take more, especially
now when it is pumped with so many DDs.
171 is a natural candidate to be truncated to Yishun <>
BPJ (loop). 170 should be considered too given its parallelism to
DTL as well as 67, 960, 961. 170 can be a Larkin <> BPJ
service.
852 should be eliminated once 851 gets more DDs. 74/157 can
easily tank the load on the west side. I know there will be some
who insist there are people taking 852 from Bukit Batok to Yishun
but this is really in the minority.
They can also take a look at 151, 156 and see if there is scope
to amend the routes to make them more effective. 151 will have to
stay between Macpherson and Hougang. It also serves an important
connection to NUS. But the middle part is duplicating 154
completely. 156 has lost its loading but serves an important role
in the west between Clementi and Bukit Timah because of Sixth
Avenue.
Bus 171 should be truncated as per what you have said or extend
to a terminal near BPJ. This bus experiences low demand along the
DTL2 Corridor and is already covered by 67/170 fully from Bukit
Panjang to Newton. Low demand sector is also between Orchard and
Marina Centre which is covered by Bus 36 (A&B), 77, 106, 111,
162M, 502 (A), 518 (A). Many other bus services ply between Orchard
and City Hall, relieving Bus 171 massively. Missing link between
Dunearn Road and Orchard Road / Bras Basah Road covered by Bus 700.
With this Bus 700 can stay.
Bus 151 can ply another routing maybe via one-north Station and
Kent Ridge Station or via Science Park Dr and Portsdown Ave,
relieving demand on Bus 92/95. Missing link between Clementi Road
(Southern part) and King Albert Park should be covered by a new bus
service plying from BPJ to JE?
Bus 852 generally has lower demand than compared to Bus 74/157
as people prefer Bus 52 express on PIE? Maybe Bus 852 should be
amended away from the DTL2 Corridor and maybe go via Northern
Singapore instead, possibly relieving demand on Bus 856 and
more.