Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Share transportation in Singapore


As many of the residents in Singapore, I commute to work by MRT trains and buses. The public transportation in Singapore is quite developed but it has started to become less convenient in the past few years. Since COE prices are ultra high, a family car is not an option and taxis are too expensive and rare to find to use for everyday commute between work and home.

But luckily there are other options which may be useful for many. For example, a popular mode of share transportationbus pool is getting popular in Singapore. According to Estatebuzz, their latest bus pooling services has been a runaway success and in just 4 months, they have introduced 6 13-seater buses to ferry office workers from their houses to the city. And their 6th bus,  which has started running on June 5th 2012, a non-Shenton Way/Raffles Place bus!  The bus currently goes from Choa Chu Kang to Buona Vista, Science Park I and II and then on to Mapletree Business City on Pasir Panjang Road. Their 5th bus is from Woodlands to Beach Road, Suntec and Raffles Place and 4th is running this morning from Choa Chu Kang to Beach Road, Suntec and Shenton Way.


You can check the shared transportation services offered by the company in this web site sharetransport.sg. The service was launched in March 2012 and offers an alternative transportation option for commuters. With these buses you can have a more direct route than public buses, avoid sardine box mode of transformation in the rush hours and pay much less than taxis. Each passenger pays S$ 95 to S$110 per month or $4.5 to $5 per day. 


"It's popular because the buses are customized according to the passengers on board. We pick passengers up at the places that they live and drop them off at their work buildings." says Moh Hon Meng, Chief Executive of Estatebuzz:


Mr. Moh said he may start an evening service soon and expects to run about 50 buses in all by the end of this year. Finance Manager Vejaya Letchumi, 52, takes the service from Choa Chu Kang to her Beach Road office. Her journey time is now about 30 minutes, down from an hour or so when she takes a public bus or the MRT.
She said: "Now I can get to work on time. The MRT has occasional delays, while the buses are crowded and get cought in traffic. This option takes the most direct route and can avoid areas with traffic jam."


And on the bonus side you can sit and you will not have to commute face to face with a stranger in trains packed like sardine boxes.


Share transport in Singapore by bus pooling - Source : sharetransport.sg
You can easily use the service by signing in sharetransport.sg. You can either try to use and existing route or enter transportation requests (from where to where, what time, etc.). If the service can match you with 12 other people with similar transportation requirements, a new route can be opened. Here you can see the existing routes and schedules.

The service also offer carpooling like Limo/Taxi Charter sharing, cost-share car pool, ad hoc taxi pool. 

See also:
Car sharing in Singapore Rent a Supercar in Singapore

2 comments: