TWO new initiatives have been launched by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to make it easier for public transport commuters to plan their journeys.

They are: PublicTransport@SG, a one-stop public transport portal; and SMS-BA, a real-time Short Message Service bus arrival information service.

Commuters can get up-to-date public transport-related information on the portal, which provides interactive maps, bus service information, maps on the MRT and LRT rail system, public transport guide mainly for tourists, and taxi service information.

To better manage waiting time, commuters can retrieve real-time bus information with SMS-BA, which gives real-time bus arrival information for both SBS Transit (SBST) and SMRT buses. It complements the current SBST Iris system.

The SMS service, which started on Oct 10, will be on trial for six months, and covers 166 bus stops along the Western academic belt.

This belt includes educational institutions such as the National University of Singapore and Clementi ITE. It was chosen to tap on a pool of about 55,000 IT-savvy students.