Singapore Expats

If I dont own a car, is it necessary to stay near an MRT for easy commute? Or are buses as reliable as well? If I need to come from the East to the Centre - can I rely on buses to get me there quickly and reliably?
Thanks!

kritikaprakash wrote:If I dont own a car, is it necessary to stay near an MRT for easy commute? Or are buses as reliable as well? If I need to come from the East to the Centre - can I rely on buses to get me there quickly and reliably?
Thanks!

The bus system here is comprehensive and extremely reliable in my experience. I much prefer it to using the MRT.

Mainly depends where to where.

Some of the buses in the morning going to CBD can be quite full.

I live in the north-east and work in the west. I use two buses & the MRT each way 6 days a week. I used to own a car. Found out it wasn't really worth the agro. Sold both of them 18 years ago. Not regretted it since. The buses are sometimes very crowded but all are airconditioned and there are always feeder buses to the MRT stations. Or, you can take buses the entire distance. Depending on your destination and schedule. I like the fact that I can read the newspaper on the way to work and no longer have to worry about the idiots and their cars that they don't have a clue how to drive but only aim. And, instead of at least $1000-1500/mo auto expenses it now only costs $200/mo. Nice chunk of vacation change left over now.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:I live in the north-east and work in the west. I use two buses & the MRT each way 6 days a week. ... Nice chunk of vacation change left over now.

+1

as poodlek says, The key is finding out the shortest route, or which is better ..

like I mentioned before .. until I found out about bus 700 and 190, I used to take an hour plus by going around the world, by Train, from Orchard to Bkt Panjang .. when I found out that it is just about 20 to 25 minutes by Bus, Orchard to Bkt Panjang, by BUS, I became hooked. And the frequent wait and standing travel to home was still worth vs the 1 hour plus spent in the train ..

And Sengkang to Tampines, well, try taking Train .. about 1 hour plus ?

Try bus 27, about 20 mins max ... and once it leaves Sengkang, it is Expressway all the way till Tampines ..

So, MRT is NOT ALWAYS the best option ..


Oh, when I used to work in Kallang, and live in Yishun, one too many of my colleagues used to tell me MRT IS EXPENSIVE LOR .. well, I never listened to them, as train was convenient, but about 40 cents saving for Bus vs train .. X 2 times a day X 22 working days .. = that is a 35.20 $ saving a month !!!!!!!!!! multiply that by the 2 years I was there .. oh gosh ..

Just use google maps and gothere.sg for directions. Compare the results and see which ones will work best for you.

I find buses way more pleasant than the MRT. For a commute you may be lucky and get the "premium services". These run at fixed times, cost a bit more but are more direct than the ordinary buses and you should get a seat.

Depends where you are in the east coast. A couple of times the bus got to me and I couldn't get on which was frustrating. But other than that they're good.

These days if you're commuting by bus and have a smart phone it is well worth the money to buy the gothere.sg app - $4. The information on the transit websites and the bus stops themselves is laughable and you need an advanced degree in the geography of Singapore to be able to get to where you want to go in a part of the city that you're not familiar with. This app changes that and make it very user friendly.

Ask iRiS is another initiative by SBS Transit - why SMRT aren't required to do so is beyond me - that makes commuting better. You can get the smart phone app or you can text the [5 digit bus stop code] [space] [bus number] to 74747 and it'll come back with the timing of the next 2 busses to your bus stop. There is an SBS Transit app, in addition to the iRiS app, but they're not integrated (don't ask why) so once you know what bus stop you want to catch your bus from the system sends you to another app to tell you when the next bus is arriving.

grammar edited

nakatago wrote:Just use google maps and gothere.sg for directions. Compare the results and see which ones will work best for you.

how did I forget gothere.sg

carteki wrote:.... Ask iRiS is another initiative by SBS Transit - why SMRT aren't required to do so is beyond me - that makes commuting better. You can get the smart phone app or you can text the [5 digit bus stop code] [space] [bus number] to 74747 and it'll come back with the timing of the next 2 busses to your bus stop. ... .

li'l correction .. >>> send the SMS to 74744

ecureilx wrote:

carteki wrote:.... Ask iRiS is another initiative by SBS Transit - why SMRT aren't required to do so is beyond me - that makes commuting better. You can get the smart phone app or you can text the [5 digit bus stop code] [space] [bus number] to 74747 and it'll come back with the timing of the next 2 busses to your bus stop. ... .

li'l correction .. >>> send the SMS to 74744

Thank you ... (the dyslexic accountant strikes again!)

carteki wrote:

ecureilx wrote:

carteki wrote:.... Ask iRiS is another initiative by SBS Transit - why SMRT aren't required to do so is beyond me - that makes commuting better. You can get the smart phone app or you can text the [5 digit bus stop code] [space] [bus number] to 74747 and it'll come back with the timing of the next 2 busses to your bus stop. ... .

li'l correction .. >>> send the SMS to 74744

Thank you ... (the dyslexic accountant strikes again!)

As always, Welcome

The buses are pretty reliable most of the time. Sometimes annoying when they're supposed to be every 5 or 6 mins at peak time and you end up waiting 20 mins when you know the interchange is only up the road..........but in general it's a pretty good service.

Best to take an ipod or something though. I forgot mine today and ended up sitting in front of some guy who was sniffing all the way to work this morning and some woman with chronic burps behind me this evening

Bus service is good, though crowded. Their website will tell you when the next bus is arriving.

thismyvoice wrote:Bus service is good, though crowded. Their website will tell you when the next bus is arriving.

Always take it with a pinch of salt though. Sometimes it doesn't reflect the actual timing all the time.

carteki wrote:These days if you're commuting by bus and have a smart phone it is well worth the money to buy the gothere.sg app - $4. The information on the transit websites and the bus stops themselves is laughable and you need an advanced degree in the geography of Singapore to be able to get to where you want to go in a part of the city that you're not familiar with. This app changes that and make it very user friendly.

I haven't seen the gothere.sg app, but I've found the 'Show Nearby' (free) app useful; I have it on my Android phone and I think there's an iPhone version available too. It basically helps you locate MRT stations, ATMs, bus stops, etc. and for each bus stop it shows you a list of routes and lets you check the timings. There were a couple of glitches a while back when a "very famous" bus company threw their toys out of the pram and stopped access from 'unauthorised' apps to their timing data, but last time I checked it was all working again.