1. Commuters travelling to the city will benefit from improved connectivity with the introduction of two more City Direct Services (CDS) under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP).
2. Residents in Buangkok/Sengkang and Hougang will have more options for their daily commute to and from the Central Business District (CBD) during morning and evening peak periods, when two new CDS are implemented progressively from the third quarter of 2016. This will bring the total number of CDS to 221. With fewer stops and the use of expressways, journey times for these services will be comparable to that of taking a bus or LRT and transferring to the MRT into the city2.
3. The two new CDS serving Buangkok/Sengkang and Hougang will operate two one-way trips on weekday mornings towards the CBD and two return trips from the city in the evenings. More trips may be added if demand for the services increases. The bus services will operate on weekday peak periods excluding public holidays. More details will be announced closer to the implementation dates.
4. Separately, in view that the existing contract for CDS 651 serving Jurong West will be expiring in August this year, LTA has to re-tender CDS 651 to continue providing two one-way trips on weekday mornings towards the CBD and two return trips from the city in the evenings.
5. LTA has called a tender today to invite private bus operators to submit their cost proposals to operate the two new CDS, and CDS 651. The tendering process will allow the most cost-efficient operator(s) to win the rights to operate the services.
Annex A: Route Map of Two New CDS and existing CDS 651
1 Currently, there are 20 CDS serving Ang Mo Kio (2), Bedok (2), Bukit Batok/Hillview, Clementi/Dover, Eunos, Hougang, Jurong East, Jurong West, Marsiling/Woodlands, Pasir Ris, Punggol, Sembawang, Sengkang, Tampines East/Simei, West Coast, Yew Tee, Yishun (2).
2 These two CDS will adopt the Distance Fares structure where commuters are charged based on the distance travelled, with no additional transfer charges. Currently, the first ten CDS are charging a flat fare for each trip based on the fares for Express routes. They will be progressively converted to Distance Fares from April 2016 to mid-2016.
