新加坡巴士 Buses Of Singapore

新加坡，一個位處亞洲的熱帶城巿，主要由主島新加坡島及周邊五十多個小島組成，氣候方面長年均是夏天，而且濕度非常高，跟香港的亞熱帶及擁有春夏秋冬四季氣候環境截然不同。從香港出發，只需接近四個小時航程就能飛抵新加坡。新加坡擁有十分廣闊的綠化面積，不單起著美化城巿作用，更有助舒緩炎熱天氣帶來的悶熱感覺。

新加坡陸上交通主要是由巴士，地鐵，輕鐵及的士組成，不論市民還是遊客，只要手持一張Ezlink卡就可以乘搭不同巴士及鐵路路線，而且在轉乘不同巴士及鐵路路線時候，都能夠享受到車費轉乘優惠。過往不論公共巴士及鐵路服務，都是主要由新捷運及新加坡地鐵巴士(SMRT Buses)兩間公司營運，直到二零一六年首個巴士合約模式下的標段投入服務後，這個局面才開始有所改變。截至二零一九年五月為止，新加坡公共巴士市場中，合共有四個經營者，當中包括原有的新捷運及SMRT，至於新加入的經營者都是擁有英國背景，包括Tower Transit及Go-Ahead Singapore。當中新加坡本土的兩間巴士公司，其背景及歷史將在下文作出簡略的介紹。

早年新加坡公共交通主要由一家英國人創立的新加坡電車公司提供，顧名思義就是提供有軌電車，以至之後的無軌電車以及巴士服務予新加坡市民。在六十年代開始，除了電車公司，還湧現十間以華資為主的巴士公司，為了有效管理整個公共通通系統，華資巴士公司於稍後時間按各自服務區域，合併成三家區域巴士公司。至於新加坡電車公司則不幸地未待全面整合完成前，因經營困難而需要結業。最終新加坡政府經過一番努力，於一九七三年七月將三家區域巴士公司，合併成新加坡巴士有限公司。

新加坡巴士有限公司成立後，透過引進大量新巴士，提升當時新加坡巴士服務質素，當中於一九七七年引進首批雙層巴士，大大增強了車隊運載能力，替新加坡巴士公司發展歷程寫下最重要的一頁。隨後於一九九三年推出的「Super Bus」，更加將十二米雙層空調巴士帶進島國，為公共巴士空調化過程邁進了一大步。隨著經營業務多元化，新加坡巴士於二零零一年十一月改名為新捷運，除了巴士之外，新捷運同時營運新加坡地鐵東北線及市區線，以及盛港及榜鵝輕軌線。

至於另一間主要巴士服務公司SMRT，其前身為成立於一九八二年五月的八達巴士(Trans Island Bus Services，TIBS)。一九八一年四月，新加坡政府為引入競爭以提高巴士服務水平，於是發出一個新專營權予一間願意與新加坡巴士作競爭的公司營運巴士服務。當時經營泊車轉乘巴士服務的Singapore Shuttle Bus (SSB)，於一九八二年一月向有關當局提出申請，並於同年三月成功奪得相關專營權，為此SSB於一九八二年五月成立TIBS，並於翌年四月正式投入運作。

TIBS於一九九九年曾經與營運地鐵的SMRT商討合併，但有關合併計劃最後未有成功，一直待到二零零一年十二月後者收購前者為止，而自二零零四年五月開始，TIBS正式改名作SMRT Buses，充分反映其作為SMRT子公司的身份。不論TIBS年代還是SMRT Buses，車隊長久以來全是單層巴士，當中最為特別是車隊中，營運有可觀數目的平治O405G掛接巴士。直到二零一四年，為了使營運更有效率，SMRT Buses從英國亞歷山大丹尼士，以及德國猛獅購入雙層巴士，從此為車隊寫下歷史新一頁。

新加坡政府為改善島國上的公共交通服務，首先於二零一二年三月推出巴士服務優化計劃，資助及鼓勵兩大營運商增購巴士作改善現有路線，以及開闢新路線之用。隨後更於二零一四年五月宣佈，新加坡的巴士服務將逐漸自二零一六年開始，改以政府合約模式運作，在這個模式下全數巴士轉換站，車廠，巴士以至車隊管理系統，都由政府的陸路交通管理局所擁有，全數巴士路線按地區被分成不同標段供有興趣營運商競投，然後政府再按所需標價，發放服務金予營運商作營運有關巴士服務。新加坡政府期望透過有關投標形式，屆時能夠有三到五家巴士公司，提供更切合民眾需要的巴士服務，從而進一步提升新加坡公共巴士服務水平。

Singapore is a tropical City which composed of the Singapore main island and other 50 islands surrounded and just around 4 hours flight from Hong Kong. The weather of Singapore is hot and humid through the year, a great difference with the distinct weather change in Hong Kong. Though Singapore is already urbanization, there are many green areas within Singapore to decorate the city and relief the muggy weather.

Public transport system of Singapore is mainly composed of the Mass Railway Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), maxicabs and public buses. With a Ezlink card, commuters can enjoy fare concessions when interchange with different bus routes and rail lines. MRT and public bus service were used to operate by two main operators, SBS Transit and the SMRT until the first Bus Contracting Model (BCM) implemented in 2016. As in May, 2019, there were four bus operators in Singapore, instead of the original two operators, TowerTransit and Go-Ahead Singapore were the latest operators. The background and brief history of SBS Transit and SMRT would be mentioned in following paragraphs.

The public transport system started with the Singapore Traction Company (STC) established by the British with trolley bus and public buses introduced at later stage. Starting form the 1960s, 10 Chinese bus operators emerged to compete with STC, to ensure a efficient public transport system, the Chinese operators were integrated to three regional bus company according the area they served. Unfortunately, STC was forced to cease service before the final stage of integration as a result of operation difficulties. After the effort made by the Singapore Government, all regional bus companies merged to a sole bus operator, the Singapore Bus Service (SBS) in Jul., 1973.

The service standard of Singapore bus service was improved after more and more new buses acquired to meet the demand, the introduction of double deckers in 1977 was considered to be one of the milestone in SBS history. The introduction of Leyland Olympian 12m (the "Super Bus") in 1993 was also should be mentioned as the "Super Bus" playing a significant role in the process of changing bus service into full air conditioned operation in Singapore. In 2001, SBS was not only a bus operator but also the operator of MRT North East Line and Downtown Line and LRT Sengkang Line and Punggol Line, SBS was rebranded as SBS Transit to reflect it becoming a multi-modal transport operator.

In Apr., 1981, Singapore Government would award another franchise to interested parties that willing to compete with SBS and Singapore Shuttle Bus (SSB), one of the "Park and Ride" service operator, showing it interest in Jan., 1982 and finally won the tender in Mar., 1982. TIBS was established in May, 1982 for running the franchised bus service and commenced in Apr., 1983.

TIBS and SMRT, the MRT operator in Singapore, engaged in unsuccessful merger talks in 1999 and finally TIBS was took over by SMRT in Dec., 2001 and TIBS was rebranded as SMRT Buses in May, 2004 to reflect it identity as a subsidiaries of SMRT. Whether TIBS or SMRT Buses, before the introduction of double deckers in 2014, the fleet was featured with full single decker operation including a good number of Mercedes Benz O405G articulated buses. SMRT Buses first acquired first double deckers from Alexander Dennis and MAN in 2014 to enhance the carrying capacity of the fleet.

Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) was first launched in Mar., 2012 for better bus service levels by sponsoring SBS Transit and SMRT Buses to purchase more buses and introduced more bus routes. Singapore Government further implemented the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) and under this model, all bus assets such as interchanges, depots, buses and bus management systems were owned by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and bus routes were divided into different packages according to the district served. Interested parties will bid for the service through tendering and fixed fee will be paid by the government to to operators bus service.

The bus service in Singapore eventually will be operated by 3 to 5 operators and the service standard can meet the need of commuters under the BCM as the Singapore Government expected.

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