Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded the second phase of on-demand public buses trial to two companies – Ministry of Movement Pte Ltd (SWAT) and Via Transportation.
The six-month trial is slated to behin in December 2018, on selected services with low travel demands during off-peak hours.
In a Facebook post, LTA noted that the dynamic routing and matching algorithm developed by the two forms are able to offer seamless and convenient bus journeys. This would help to serve areas where there is low or unpredictable ridership during certain times of the day.
Regular buses will continue to ply the selected routes, but at lower frequencies, according to a report by Todayonline. This is to provide fixed route bus services to commuters who prefer using regular buses.
Moving forward, both contractors will develop mobile apps for commuters and bus captains as well as back-end tools to monitor the services.
The trial locations and operating hours will be announced by LTA closer to the implementation date.
The second phase will involve the development of hardware and software solutions for the on-demand public bus system. They comprise mobile apps for commuters and bus captains, back-end tools required to monitor services during the trial, as well as operational and maintenance support for the system.
Both contractors will train bus captains and support staff to operate the system.