Land Transport Authority Get higher occupancy for buses
I often see buses passing a stop with 20% occupancy or less.  This is wasteful and costly. 

How can we achieve better occupancy without overcrowding?

The solution is to rationalize the bus services. We should have long distance services that bring passengers to a major bus stop and do not make any stop in between. 

From these major stops, the commuters can take a local service that serve the local stops which are about 400 m apart. 

It is easy to plan the frequency of the long distance services to achieve a target occupancy, say 70%. During busy periods, more buses run on the road. During off peak periods, less buses run. 

The local services can run every two minutes or less. In the near futures, these local buses can run autonomously, i.e. without a driver. 

A commuter travels as follows. 

a) Take a local service or walk to a major bus stop.
b) Take a long distance service to a major stop at the destination.
c) Take a local service or walk to the final destination.

As the transfers are made at the major stop, the passenger does not have to walk a lot. The waiting came is reduced if the long distance and local buses run more frequently. With a higher occupancy, it is possible to increase the number of buses (but less services are required).

Tan Kin Lian


 

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