New peak period short service 222P launches; plies through Chai Chee estate

A new feeder bus service hit the roads on Tuesday, to ease the peak-hour crush and cut waiting times for Chai Chee residents.

Service 222P, a "peak period short service" run by private operator ComfortDelGro Bus, will complement the existing feeder bus route 222.

It will ply a truncated route from Bedok MRT Station to Chai Chee Road, Chai Chee Street and Chai Chee Drive before heading back to the station via New Upper Changi Road. This will provide residents with more buses to get to the MRT.

Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin, the MP for the area, noted that bus 222 gets crowded and residents end up waiting for quite some time.

He said: "For some of them it has been quite frustrating, and this has been for a couple of years."

Mr Tan said he is glad for the new 222P, which will add more buses to ease the load and improve frequency.

ComfortDelGro Bus will operate 11 trips between 5.45am and 7.45am during weekday mornings, and another 11 trips between 4.45pm and 6.45pm on weekday evenings.

It was awarded a $1 million contract to provide the service for two years.

This is the third privately run feeder service to launch this month, after service 912P in Woodlands and service 240P in Boon Lay. Service 268P in Ang Mo Kio will launch on May 6.

These short services come after the Transport Ministry announced last year that it would tap on private operators to augment the services provided by public transport operators. They are part of the $1.1 billion Bus Service Enhancement Programme.

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