Marine Parade free shuttle bus service ceases operations after 16 months
After about 16 months of operations, a free shuttle bus service operating in the Marine Parade Cluster will cease operations on 20 Nov.
Breaking the news in a Facebook post on Monday (13 Oct), Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC and Mountbatten SMC said it would “redirect the resources in a more targeted manner”.
Source: Geylang Serai Community Club on Facebook
Contract for Marine Parade shuttle bus not extended after review
The grassroots organisations that initiated the Marine Parade Cluster WeCare shuttle bus said they would not extend the service beyond its current contract, which began in July 2024.
They decided after their most recent review, where they considered the feedback received and other factors.
They also observed ridership patterns and regularly sought feedback from residents.
A previous review conducted in January this year resulted in an extension to the contract, after some adjustments.
Grassroots organisations will engage affected residents
The organisations were “mindful” of how discontinuing the shuttle bus may affect residents who currently use the service.
They noted that residents who used the service found it helpful in the last-mile connection.
This connection is between their neighbourhood and community nodes during off-peak hours.
Source: Marine Parade-Braddell Heights & Mountbatten on Facebook
Thus, the grassroots organisations will engage affected residents soon.
The organisations would tell the residents more about what would happen in future, they added, concluding:
We will continue to understand the different needs in the community and do our best to serve.
Service cost S$1 million a year
When the shuttle bus launched in July 2024, it had seven different loops.
The loops covered various parts of the then Marine Parade GRC, Mountbatten SMC and MacPherson SMC.
They ran during non-peak hours on weekdays, mainly benefiting seniors running errands.
Residents merely had to download the app and sign up to enjoy the service.
However, the service faced questions in Parliament from Workers’ Party (WP) MPs.
The WP MPs pointed out that the service costs S$1 million a year.
They also highlighted that it features caricatures of People’s Action Party (PAP) MPs on the bus.
Source: Edwin Tong on Facebook
Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan told Parliament on 7 Aug 2024 that the South East Community Development Council (CDC) had provided a one-off seed grant of S$200,000 to support the pilot scheme.
The remaining 80% came from donations raised by the CDC and the respective grassroots organisations.
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Featured image adapted from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights & Mountbatten on Facebook.
