Direct bus to universities
-
ABOARD A Cosy Express, commuters get a whole extra hour of shuteye before school.
Having suffered long rides to their universities for the past three years, three young women launched their own bus service, dubbed Ace, which allows university students to avoid bus-to-train transits, and save up to 30 minutes in travel time.
Its buses serve 75 subscribers, called Acers, picking them up in the east - namely, Pasir Ris, Tampines and Bedok - and dropping them off at campuses in the west.
Acers who might have previously needed two hours to get to school, can now get there in an hour to 90 minutes if traffic is smooth.
Fares cost $3.70 per ride to the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Kent Ridge and $3.80 to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Jurong.
Commuters must sign up for at least one ride a week for the entire semester, and keep to a strict schedule of pick-up times, although Ace has also issued one-time tickets of $5 since last week to raise profits.
--ST
-
depends whether can really save time not.
one accident on the expressway and you will see a 20min increase in travel time. and these events are unpredictable. -
Is it approve by LTA? I thinking of setup a company to run bus service to IRs lah hee hee.
-
free enterprise, no need approval lar, so long as no pick up points that compete with regular route...just like private coach charter but on a daily basis...like what companies would do for their employees.
-
good show of entrepreneurship. at times i would want to do something like that when i'm frustrated with the transport system. wish them all the best.
-
Problem is, soon everybody will want to provide a service like this and when it eats into public transport profits, the government will step in to regulate and want some of the action.
Mark my words.
-
What do you mean by free enterprise? Then those express bus service that carry people to CBD also free enterprise why must LTA approve? I thnk I will start to carry people to CBD tomarrow using my mini bus if that the case. using my registered company I can just do it. compare to them I no need to rent any bus from any bus company. My service charge is $2.50 per person or $100 with discount every month. my mini bus can carry 12 person. meet at toa payoh center from 630am and service end at 930pm. how about that???
-
my friend tried it only ONCE.
he stays in pasir ris. pasir ris street 72 to be exact. so you can imagine how far it is from NTU.
the bus frm NTU go bedok > tamp > pasir ris.
he is never taking it again. he'll either tumpang me or take the train back if we don't end same time. he pays me $3 for petrol. okay what. this bus more expensive. -
if you siad that no pick up points that compete with regular route to ntu then you are wrong how about SMRT and SBS 199 and 179? I think LTA should look into it. Also If the LTA planner see the idea I think soon a sbs semi-express service like 506 will extend to ntu from the east.
-
go buy a car lar. if cant afford, buy a motorbike.
-
off peck car also can. student no need to drive all the time on the road.
-
Singapore A cosy ride for varsity commuters Eisen Teo 590 words 17 February 2010 Straits Times English (c) 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Limited They can sleep through ride from the east to campuses in the west, and save time too. ABOARD A Cosy Express, commuters get a whole extra hour of shuteye before school. Having suffered long rides to their universities for the past three years, three young women launched their own bus service, dubbed Ace, which allows university students to avoid bus-to-train transits, and save up to 30 minutes in travel time. Its buses serve 75 subscribers, called Acers, picking them up in the east - namely, Pasir Ris, Tampines and Bedok - and dropping them off at campuses in the west. Acers who might have previously needed two hours to get to school, can now get there in an hour to 90 minutes if traffic is smooth. Fares cost $3.70 per ride to the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Kent Ridge and $3.80 to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Jurong. Commuters must sign up for at least one ride a week for the entire semester, and keep to a strict schedule of pick-up times, although Ace has also issued one-time tickets of $5 since last week to raise profits. The first three bus runs - two to NTU and one to NUS - started two weeks ago, with the earliest just before 7am. Every Monday to Friday until the end of the school semesters in April, these buses pull in at bus stops outside Pasir Ris, Tampines and Bedok MRT stations for boarding. They reach NTU at 8.30am and 9.30am, and NUS at 10am - barring traffic snarls. The fares are daunting for some, like Mr Daniel Chan, 21, who lives in Upper Paya Lebar. '$3.70 is kind of expensive for me, and I'm fine reading my lecture notes on the bus,' said the first-year NUS arts student, who spends about $2 and 90 minutes to get to school via two buses. Others, latecomers who are not used to Ace's strict pick-up timings, have been left behind. But the rest are grateful. Instead of having to stand for an hour on the MRT train and transfer from bus to train and back again, Tampines resident Ng Jin Bao, 25, a second-year engineering student at NTU, saves about 30 minutes. He said: 'Now I can sit down in comfort.' In fact, aboard an NTU-bound bus two weeks ago, most of the 15 passengers, including Mr Ng, had fallen asleep by the time the bus hit the expressway. Two of Ace's three 22-year-old founders - Miss Ashli Koe, who is a final-year business student at NUS, and Miss Joycelyn Ho, currently unemployed - had commuting woes too. Getting to and from school took Miss Koe, who lives in Serangoon North, up to two hours. Seven months ago, with mutual friend Miss Ho Khim Rong, an educational trainer, the two ploughed $5,000 of their money into the start-up. Through fliers, viral e-mails and a website (www.acosyexpress.com.sg), they received about 650 responses, and from there chose to launch routes that served the most people. They hired 20- to 40-seater buses from three private operators, which could set them back by up to $100 per bus a day. Despite monthly running costs of up to $4,200, Ace hopes to break even by May, so more routes can be launched, including an evening route from campuses in the west towards the east. [email protected]
-
2 points to note:
- one of the stopping points is located along a bus lane and looking at the timing, the bus will be stopping at this point during bus lane operating hours. This means that if LTA were to interfere, you can say bye bye to that stopping point and most likely it would, else it will be unfair to other private bus operators who were rejected for its use.
- this service looks more like a shuttle service which requires users to pay for its usage rather than a charter service. Therefore, a PTC license is required to operate it. Unless you can argue that it is a charter service.
P.S. PTC licenses bus services and not LTA.
-
It a Premium Services by the company without PTC licenses. Humm Can any one from PTC say somethings? I also want to hire 20- to 40-seater buses private operators to provide bus service to CBD or use my 12 seater to do it whole day.
-
They actually over quote the price. If you have a contract with the private bus companies, a 2 way shuttle will at most cost you about $70 max.
-
I doubt so... now two way shuttles can cost up to $100 a month...