LTA to deploy 3-door buses

The aim is to find out whether commuter flow will improve.

The Land Transport Authority of Singapore will soon be rolling out three-door buses on the road. In a statement, LTA said the launch of such buses will provide the authority an opportunity to study the impact of such designs in improving commuter flow.

To recall, two three-door buses were showcased at the bus carnival and the Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition (SITCE) last year.

For this project, LTA will work with two public bus operators, Tower Transit Singapore (TTS) and SMRT, to conduct the study over a six-month period. Both buses are designed by ST Kinetics, and will include user-friendly features such as passenger information display system, USB ports, and wheelchair space.

The double-deck bus will be operated by TTS on Service 143 from 13 March, whilst SMRT will run the single-deck bus from the second quarter of 2017. The service number for SMRT will be announced at a later date. The services will cover both residential and commercial areas and will allow LTA to gather feedback from a diverse group of commuters.

"We had sought public feedback regarding new features on buses at the inaugural bus carnival last year. Of the 22,000 responses received, close to 90% of respondents were keen on having a third door on buses, whilst more than 95% of respondents said a second staircase on double-deck buses would be useful. Two other popular features which are already being tested on the roads are buses with USB ports and a new passenger information display system," said LTA.  

Photo from LTA.