Sentosa's B12BLEA beach trams

The B12BLEA is usually bodied into articulated buses, but Liannex and ComfortDelgro Engineering took an unusual step and configured it into beach trams for replacing the older beach trams. There are currently two units in Sentosa, WC2820Z and WC2649C.

WC2820Z on service in Sentosa

They are limited to 35km/h for safety.

SBS Transit's Wright B9TL - Preview of SBS7500D [Demonstrator]

Info from a fellow bus enthusiast yesterday led the author to Hougang Interchange where the two buses, SBS7500D and SBS7502Z were spotted for familiarisation by the BCs. SBS7500D is the demonstrator Wright B9TL shipped to Singapore in CBU and undergone a tilt test.



SBS7500D was spotted near Hougang Interchange doing test runs. One of the observations made was the Wright B9TLs are slightly quieter than their CDGE cousins.

The bumper area. The holes below the main headlights are empty design moulds only.

With the test runs, deployment of some of the inital units to various depots, together with the impending retirement of some of the Leyland Olympians, the Wright B9TLs are expected to enter revenue service soon.

In a work day of a Bus Captain

The bus captain's office. On board SMB51M 171 towards Marina Centre Ter.

SBS1688K - SBS Transit's B10BLE demonstrator

This demonstrator B10BLE with Volgren bodywork runs on diesel, subsequent purchases of the B10BLE runs on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). It has a flip dot signage installed; holding the honour as the first Low Entry single-deck bus to be in Singapore and one of the few completely built up buses in SBS Transit's fleet.

It is seen here running as a cameo on 153 [HGDEP 163], with the livery recently restickered and repainted.

SBS Transit/Nanyang Technological University - Higer Fuel Cell Bus

RD6066L Higer Fuel Cell bus is parked in the holding facility opposite NTU's School of Biomedical Science.

And unfortunately, it's still not on revenue service, unlike its two Sunlong hybrid cousins.

It'll probably be parked within the NTU campus or quite a while, doing test within campus and stuffs for some time before entering revenue service.

SBS Transit's Green PIW backrest?

For most commuters on SBS Transit's latest wheelchair accessible buses, we would all have been familiar with the Passenger-in-wheelchair bays.

A standard wheelchair bay on a SBS Transit Scania K230UB.

Do you notice the yellow stickers on the right?

Position wheelchair against "green" backrest in locked position.

Let's take a look at the "green" backrest.


The backrest is yellow.

 It might turn out to be another "Use Hammer to Break Window Glass" that was featured on STOMP ^^.

SMRT's bus refurbishments

Unlike rival SBS Transit's refurbishments, SMRT Buses' refurbishments give the bus interior and exterior a total overhaul with a fresh new look for commuters.

INTERIOR

Scania ELBO interior before refurbishments.



Scania ELBO interior after refurbishments


EXTERIOR

Scania ELBO exterior before refurbishments



Scania ELBO exterior after refurbishments

SBS2779A - only B10M MK IV fitted with EDS

Based in Hougang Depot, SBS2779A is the only unique Volvo B10M MKIV DM3500 (and out of the whole MK IV fleet) to be fitted with Transit-Media Electronic Destination signage. The formatting is similar to that used by SMRT buses, with the destination and locations passed by on the front EDS, while the side EDS only displays the route number.

Here it is seen leaving Hougang Depot with the EDS displaying "SBS TRANSIT" to run on its perm service 107.

Goodbye Coolair EDS!

SBS8405P with its new EDS on 162.

Spotted today along Orchard Road, SBS8405P sports a brand new Electronic Destination Signage by LECIP. It is believed that the Coolair EDS the bus was originally fitted got corrupted beyond repair.

The formatting is similar to the Hanover EDS used by the Euro V batch, hence one might mistake this to be a Euro V Scania.

TIB846J is refurbished!

Following TIB840A's refurbishment, the second ELBO to be refurbished is TIB846J (a perm bus on 187). Unfortunately for me, the bus's aircon broke down but still continued on revenue service on the trip which i took.

The airconditioning broke down during revenue service, but the bus was not taken out of service (fortunately) at the time of this shot.
The driver's window being fully open is testament to the stuffiness in the bus.

The interior of TIB846J. Note the paper on the far right corner which covers a faulty EZ-link reader.

Hope that TIB846J's airconditioning can be fixed up soon to provide commuters on 187 with a comfortable ride!

Edit: Forgot to add this on, the Volgelsitze struts supporting the seats aren't painted grey this time round like TIB840A.

Fare evasions! A NO-NO!

SINGAPORE - More fare evaders were nabbed on public transport last year as enforcement efforts by inspectors, bus captains, bus interchange and train station staff were stepped up.

Together, they caught 7,346 fare evasion cases in the last financial year - between April last year and this March -
according to the Public Transport Council. In comparison, 4,038 fare evaders were caught during a nine-month period from July 2008 -when a new penalty regime kicked in - to March last year.

Under the new regime, commuters face a $20 fine for not paying or under-paying their fare and a $50 fine for misusing concession cards. Previously, fare evaders paid only the balance of their fare.

When asked about the reasons for the spike, PTC said enforcement efforts were stepped up to deter fare evasion. "This resulted in an increase in the number of penalty fee cases," the Council added. Between April last year and March, fare evaders caught on buses accounted for nine in 10 cases. Close to six in 10 bus fare evaders underpaid, while almost four in 10 did not pay any fares. Only 2.1 per cent of the bus fare evasion cases were for the misuse of concession card.

Overall, more than eight in 10 fare evaders who were caught in the last financial year paid the penalty fee or composition fine amounts. About one in 10 cases escalated to Court action, said the PTC.

The Council collected $145,310 in fees and fines during the last financial year, which goes to defray the regulatory costs
incurred in policing the penalty fee system.

PTC may use the fees collected to reimburse the Land Transport Authority for their share of administering the regime on PTC's behalf; Transit Link for its services collecting and processing the fees; and operators for their share of fare loss.
Last year, 796 appeals were processed, according to PTC.

While more fare evaders may have been caught, analysts MediaCorp spoke to said the financial impact on the transport operators is minimal. They estimated the revenue loss would be around $16,000 based on a maximum fare of $2 under the previous fare structure.

PTC said the number of penalty fee cases in proportion to the total number of commuter trips "remain small at 0.0004 per
cent". However, it stressed that fare evasion was "a dishonest act" which "should not be allowed to go unchecked".

Before penalties were introduced, transport operators caught almost 10,000 fare evaders each month. The monthly numbers fell to under 1,000 last year, with fare evasion rates on buses plummeting 94 per cent since the regime was implemented
With the new distance-based fare system in place, the PTC is also reviewing the penalty

.
From > http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC101008-0000054/More-caught-evading-fares-on-public-transport
With the above report, here at (buses[IN]gapore!) will also encourage our fellow friends to pay the full fare and have an enjoyable trip!

SBS Transit's Wright B9TLs

Preview of the Wright B9TLs launch cermony by SGCITYBUS up on his fotopic @ http://sgcitybus.fotopic.net/c1899353.html

(credits to SGCITYBUS)