Expect longer wait for some buses with drivers affected

Commuters should be prepared to wait longer for some buses, as a few hundred drivers are down with Covid-19 or placed under quarantine orders or stay-home notices.

For now, the increase in waiting times for the majority of affected services is within five minutes. For a very small number of services, it is more than 10 minutes, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday. It did not say how many services were affected.

In a joint statement with the four major bus operators - Go-Ahead Singapore, SBS Transit, SMRT Buses and Tower Transit - LTA said the operators have been doing their best to maintain service levels. For example, some drivers have volunteered to work on their days off.

"However, as these measures cannot fully make up for the loss in manpower, our bus operators have started lengthening headways for some services to ensure that our bus captains have enough rest time," said the LTA.

Eight bus interchanges are active Covid-19 clusters. To reduce the impact on commuters, more double-decker buses will be deployed for certain services when possible.

These services include those that serve schools, as ridership is expected to increase when students return from their school holidays next week, said the LTA.