Bus Arrival Times in Singapore: Commuters Face Inaccurate Displays

On a recent Friday, many commuters in Singapore were greeted with unreliable bus arrival information, a situation that frustrated numerous travelers. Ms. Ng, a food stall owner, found herself waiting at the bus stop near Kovan MRT station for over 40 minutes, only to see the digital display indicating an incoming bus that was significantly delayed. This unfortunate scenario exemplified the broader issues stemming from a system reset aimed at fixing technical problems with bus arrival predictions.

Unexpected Early Arrivals

On Friday, commuters experienced surprising inconsistencies in bus arrival times, particularly at three different bus stops visited for observation. For example, at the Kovan MRT station exit C around noon, the digital board suggested that several services would take longer than 20 minutes to arrive. Contrarily, buses for services 80, 107, and 119 appeared within just five to ten minutes.

Retiree Adam Sim expressed his frustration, noting that the display indicated a 25-minute wait for bus service 80. Yet, this bus showed up less than two minutes later. Similar instances were witnessed at Serangoon MRT station exit E, where service 70 indicated a 15-minute wait but arrived in three minutes, and service 53 predicted a 28-minute wait, only to appear in eight minutes.

At Paya Lebar MRT station exit B, the discrepancies were even more pronounced. At 1:18 PM, service 70 arrived three minutes after the board predicted an 18-minute wait, while services 135 and 155 arrived a staggering 20 minutes early.

Long Delays for Some Commuters

In contrast, some commuters were not as fortunate, facing longer waits than anticipated. Gavin, a commuter who preferred to keep his full name private, mentioned that his bus arrived on time at Serangoon, but that morning, he waited over 15 minutes at a Buangkok bus stop despite the MyTransport.SG app showing only a five-minute wait initially.

Reports indicated that both the Citymapper and MyTransport.SG apps reflected the same inaccuracies seen on digital displays, whereas Google Maps provided slightly varied estimates—generally off by six to twelve minutes. Polytechnic student Syed noted that while the inconsistencies rarely impacted him, he understood how they could annoy others who plan their departure times meticulously to avoid long waits.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) pointed to “intermittent transmission” issues with some onboard systems as the root cause for these inaccurate predictions. This problem was first identified on January 10, with further inaccuracies surfacing throughout the week. The LTA had recently reset its Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) system to address these technical challenges.

The Road Ahead

As the LTA works to stabilize operations and test the restored ETA system, commuters are urged to bear with the inconsistencies in bus arrival data. While the frustrations experienced on that day are regrettable, ongoing adjustments aim to improve the reliability of information in the near future.