Mercedes Benz Citaros for SBS Transit.

SBS Transit Invests In Award-Winning Stepless Buses


SBS Transit's next batch of single-deck buses will crank up the comfort level several notches - thanks to a completely stepless aisle.
Known as a through low-floor bus, the aisle of the Mercedes Citaro is flushed flat from the front of the bus to the back . This makes it especially friendly to elderly passengers who no longer need to climb steps to reach the back of other low-floor models currently on the road. The 300 Citaros, which have won several international awards including the "2007 Bus of the Year" and the "Best Commercial Vehicles of 2010", will also have more than 10 priority seats which will be easily accessible by the elderly and the handicapped.
SBS Transit will pay $110 million for the 300 Citaros. Together with another 300 new double-deck buses from Volvo, they are scheduled to hit our local roads over the next two years starting from 2011.

The latest bus purchase of $268 million brings SBS Transit's total investment in new buses over the last five years to $854 million. It will lower the age of our existing buses from nine years to seven years.

SBS Transit Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gan Juay Kiat, said: "We are excited about our latest bus purchase. The saloon layout of the new single-deck through low-floor buses is more commuter-friendly."

Mr Gan added that when the new single- and double-deck are rolled out over the next two years, two out of every three buses in the SBS Transit fleet will be new.

"This means we will have one of the youngest fleets in Asia," he said.

As with recent bus purchases, the latest batch of new buses are Euro 5 compliant.

Background

SBS Transit operates 193 basic bus services and 53 premium and niche services. The company currently has close to 3,000 buses where one in two of its buses is new. Since our fleet renewal programme commenced in 2006, we have bought 1,450 new buses, of which 1,100 are single deck buses from Scania and 350 are double-deck ones from Volvo. All are wheelchair-accessible buses.

Exterior view of the Citaro Bus which was named "Best Commercial Vehicles of 2010 - City Bus" and "2007 Bus of the Year".

Stepless aisle in the bus

http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/press/2010-09-06-01-S.aspx

With this press release, SBS Transit has bought 300 Mercedes Benz Citaros. It is likely due to the popularity of the Citaro, coupled with an attractive quotation for the buses allowing for such a purchase to happen.

Meanwhile, SMRT Buses' SMB136C is still currently under 1 year trial. If the trial is successful it will also lead to the mass purchase of the Citaros. It will be the second time since the 1980's era that a common bus model and bodywork is being used (the first being Nissan Diesel U31 series).