buses The Singapore Traction Company (STC) first introduced bus services in 1925: trolley buses replaced the electric trams that had operated in the city since 1905. Individual operators offered services in rural areas with seven- seater ‘mosquito buses’. These formed the nucleus for the formation of 11 Chinese bus companies. By the mid- 1950s, services provided by the STC and the Chinese bus companies were plagued by operational difficulties, poor management and labour unrest. In 1971, following the publication of a White Paper on the reorganization of bus services, the Chinese bus companies were amalgamated, forming three large companies; the STC was the fourth company.

However, services failed to improve, and the government intervened. This resulted in the formation of a single company, Singapore Bus Services (SBS), in 1973. Trans Island Bus Service (TIBS) was formed in 1983 to provide competition. In 2001, when the need for the integrated operation of bus and train services became evident, SBS was renamed SBSTransit Ltd and SMRT Train Ltd acquired TIBS, which became SMRT Buses Ltd.

Today, there is a variety of bus services available in Singapore. Trunk bus services are provided on long and medium routes which run between bus interchanges and terminals. Feeder bus services are provided for short routes between bus interchanges and train stations. Premier bus services are semi- express, and special night services were introduced in 2000 in certain areas.

SBS Transit Ltd and SMRT Buses Ltd operate 265 trunk and feeder services. The bus fleet consists of air- conditioned minibuses, single- deckers, double- deckers (introduced in 1985) and articulated buses (introduced in 1996).

Since 1985, almost all bus services have been operated by a single driver. Fares are paid either by tapping an EZ- Link card on a card reader or by dropping change into a coin box.

Inter- city coach services operate from terminals in Singapore to various parts of Peninsular Malaysia.

Photo credits: National Museum of Singapore; National Archives of Singapore; National Archives of Singapore/ Tan Kok Kheng collection, respectively.