SINGAPORE: Those taking Tower Transit’s bus service 143 from Monday (Mar 13) may notice something different – instead of two doors, it might have three.
The double-deck bus is part of a six-month trial by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) as it hopes to improve commuter flow, especially during boarding and alighting. The bus will also have two stairways up to the second level.
LTA also said that a single-deck bus run by SMRT, also with three doors, will begin service from the second quarter of 2017, with the service number to be announced at a later date. Both trial bus services will cover both residential and commercial areas, it added.
The SMRT bus, which will begin service from the second quarter of 2017. (Photo: Kenneth Lim)
The idea of three-door buses were first introduced at the 2016 Bus Carnival, where about 90 per cent of 22,000 people surveyed supported having a third door on buses while another 95 per cent said a second staircase on double-deck buses would be useful, according to a news release by LTA and the two transport operators.
“Deploying the three-door buses will allow us to study this concept further by observing commuter flow and how the bus adapts to the existing infrastructure,” LTA’s group director of Public Transport Yeo Teck Guan said.
Designed by ST Kinetics, both buses also include features like designated wheelchair spaces. a passenger information display system and USB ports.
Channel NewsAsia understands these vehicles may cost up to 15 per cent more than regular buses.
