Singapore to test on-demand buses in December

It awarded the trial to two firms for $2.26m.

A six-month trial for new on-demand buses that will be used during off-peak hours will begin in December 2018, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) revealed.

According to an announcement, LTA has awarded the second phase of its on-demand public buses (ODPB) trial to two companies, Ministry of Movement (SWAT) and Via Transportation, at a total contract sum of $2.26m.

“SWAT has strong local knowledge of operating on-demand bus services in Singapore, whilst Via has extensive experience in operating on-demand bus services in major metropolitan cities,” LTA said.

In the first phase of the trial, SWAT and Via have successfully developed a dynamic routing and matching algorithm. Commuters will be able to request for pick-ups and drop-offs at any bus stop within the defined geofence area through a mobile app.

The second phase involves the development of hardware and software solutions for the ODPB system. These solutions comprise mobile apps for commuters and bus captains, back-end tools required to monitor services during the trial, as well as operational and maintenance support for the system.

Both contractors will train bus captains and support staff to operate the system. Additional simulations will also be conducted to fine-tune the operating parameters and geofence areas of the system.

More details of the operational trial, such as locations and operating hours, will be announced closer to the implementation date.

“During the trial hours, LTA will continue to run selected low-demand bus services with similar connections at lower frequencies, so that commuters who prefer the regular buses still have access to fixed route bus services,” the agency added.