Bus service 167 starts running at longer intervals as changes to several routes take effect
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LTA initially announced that it would stop service 167, but commuters objected to the loss of a direct bus route connecting northern Singapore to the city.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
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SINGAPORE – Buses plying between Sembawang and Bukit Merah on service 167 began running at longer intervals of 30 minutes on Dec 17, as changes to several routes that were announced in November took effect.
Madam Foo, 57, was waiting in Novena to take service 167, which used to run at intervals of 11 to 20 minutes and serves areas such as Upper Thomson Road, Orchard Road and Shenton Way.
Madam Foo, who declined to give her full name, said she was not bothered by the longer intervals as there are other services she can take to her home in Upper Thomson Road.
“Fortunately for me, the route I use is quite connected,” said the housewife, adding that she just waits at the bus stop and does not use any smartphone applications to check bus arrival times.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had initially announced that it would stop service 167 from Dec 10,
On Nov 28, LTA said it would retain the service but operate buses on the route at longer intervals
On Dec 17, The Straits Times visited Bukit Merah bus interchange and observed fewer passengers waiting at the service 167 berth than those for other services.
One 167 bus left the interchange without any passenger, while others had only a few people on board.
The number of passengers picked up around noon, when ST took the bus from Bukit Merah towards the Orchard and Novena areas.
A 39-year-old man who works as a cleaner at a coffee shop in Bukit Merah said he usually walks to the Bukit Merah interchange to wait for service 167 after his shift.
The cleaner, who gave his name as Ah Hao, said: “I just wait for the bus even though it will take a bit longer now. If they cancel service 167, I will have to find another way to go home.”
Another passenger at the interchange, 61-year-old Mr Toh, told ST that he had been waiting for nearly 20 minutes at the berth of service 167.
Mr Toh, who declined to give his full name, was on his way to the Cantonment area. Speaking in Mandarin, he said: “How can I be waiting 30 minutes every time if I miss the bus? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Other changes that took effect on Dec 17 include the merging of services 162 and 162M into a single service, with its route shortened to a loop between Yio Chu Kang Bus Interchange and Sin Ming Drive.
Service 75 has been shortened to terminate at Bukit Merah Bus Interchange instead of Marina Centre Bus Terminal.
Service 859 now plies Canberra Link and Sembawang Road in place of service 167.
Meanwhile, service 121 is operating from Shenton Way Bus Terminal instead of Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal. It now passes through Cantonment Link, Cantonment Road, Anson Road and Shenton Way to maintain connectivity between Outram Park MRT station and housing estates in Cantonment.
LTA said in November that it was changing several bus routes that run parallel to segments of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) as ridership for some services, including 167, had fallen by 30 per cent to 40 per cent.
At the same time, average weekday ridership on the TEL climbed from 60,000 in October 2022 to 160,000 in February, then 177,000 in October.
