Six new bus services that will take commuters from housing estates to the Central Business District (CBD) via expressways will be launched progressively from the first half of 2014.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Saturday that it has awarded contracts for the services, named City Direct, to five private bus operators. The six routes will operate from Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Batok/Hillview, Jurong East, Sembawang, Sengkang and West Coast to the CBD during the morning peak, and in the return direction during the evening peak.

"With limited stops and the use of expressways, journey times will be comparable to that of taking a bus or LRT and transferring to the MRT into the city," said LTA in a media release.

Three of the nine City Direct services that were tendered out in June were not awarded, as the bids were not compliant with the tender requirements or not sufficiently competitive to comply with Government procurement principles. The three services - Bedok, Eunos and Hougang - are expected to be re-tendered by end November.