Night owls and party goers staying in the heartlands will soon have a more budget-friendly option of getting home.
From Friday (27 Jan), private bus charter company A&S Transit will be launching two new night bus services from the city to the heartlands.
Source: A&S on Facebook
The services will run on Fridays, Saturdays, and the eve of public holidays.
At a flat fee of S$4.50, this bus service is priced similarly to the NightRider services that were discontinued in 2022.
A&S Transit is launching two new one-way night bus service routes — NS-1 and NS-2 — to cater to the recovering nightlife scene.
Buses arrive every 45 minutes and will operate from 11.30pm to 2.30am on Fridays, Saturdays, and public holiday eves.
The NS-1 service will start at Shenton Way and travel through the Central Business District (CBD), Clarke Quay, Orchard, Little India, Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, and Sengkang before ending at Punggol.
Its end destination is the bus stop near Samudera LRT station.
Source: A&S on Facebook
As for NS-2, the bus will travel from Shenton Way to River Valley, Orchard, Newton, Yishun, and Sembawang, before the service ends at Woodlands.
Source: A&S on Facebook
The service ends at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint bus stop.
According to A&S Transit, commuters who pay by EZ-Link will be charged a flat fee of S$4.50.
However, those who pay by cash will have to pay S$5. The exact amount will need to be given to the bus driver, reported The Straits Times (ST).
The new A&S night bus services will help fill a void left by the discontinuation of the NightRider and Nite Owl buses.
These night services were previously ran by SMRT and SBS Transit.
They were suspended in Apr 2020 because of the pandemic and later discontinued in Jun 2022.
ST reported that at that time, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) cited the main factors for this being low ridership, availability of alternative modes of transport, and financial prudence.
A&S Transit’s new night services will be a low-cost transport alternative for commuters.
Currently, after MRT and regular bus services stop operating, commuters can only take a taxi or private-hire car.
Speaking to ST, A&S Transit said their night services will be served by three MAN A22 diesel buses acquired from SMRT in 2021.
Source: A&S on Facebook
Each bus can seat 43 passengers and no standing passengers are allowed.
Ten bus drivers will be deployed to operate the NS-1 and NS-2 routes.
A&S Transit shared that they are looking into hiring more young bus captains specifically for these night services.
Despite the previous challenges faced by the NightRider and Nite Owl services, A&S Transit expects to break even within six months, in spite of rising fuel and manpower costs.
A company spokesperson said A&S Transit has done their research before deciding the routes.
Both routes are targeted at newer estates that have potentially higher demand whilst still serving less accessible areas.
Nonetheless, it is their first foray into night bus services and A&S Transit hopes to gather insights on what the public look for in such services. They also hope to introduce more routes in future.
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Featured image adapted from A&S on Facebook.
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