Community-based Shuttle Bus Pilot for Marine Parade Town Cluster

Response to parliamentary questions on the community-based shuttle bus pilot in the Marine Parade Town Cluster

Oral PQ 6334: Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the public bus services in Marine Parade GRC, MacPherson SMC and Mountbatten SMC are adequate to meet the residents’ needs; and (b) whether the free shuttle bus service which began on 8 July 2024 for these constituencies have met the financial prudence criteria for provision of public transport.

Oral PQ 6381: Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what are the specific inputs and assessment of LTA on the provision of a community-specific shuttle bus service through the South East Community Development Council and People’s Association, in Marine Parade GRC, which is an additional service outside the public transport system; and (b) whether LTA assesses a potential need for similar supplementary services in other parts of Singapore to improve last-mile connectivity.

Oral PQ 6386: Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what is the total cost of the cluster-wide community shuttle bus service covering Marine Parade GRC, MacPherson SMC and Mountbatten SMC as announced by the South East Community Development Council and the People's Association on 30 June 2024; and (b) how much of the expenditure for this one-year pilot is attributed to (i) public funds (ii) donations or (iii) other sources, respectively. 

Oral PQ 6333: Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) where does the funding for the free shuttle bus service in Marine Parade GRC, MacPherson SMC and Mountbatten SMC come from; (b) what is the cost for funding such service for a year; (c) what is the justification for limiting the service to only residents of those constituencies; and (d) whether such funding can be also made available to other constituencies, and, if so, how.

Oral PQ 6388: Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Ministry can provide resources to Community Development Councils to launch free shuttle bus services to other areas such as Tengah New Town and Bukit Batok West Extension; and (b) what are the considerations for doing and for not doing so.

Oral PQ 6390: Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) since the start of the Marine Parade Cluster shuttle bus service, what has been (i) the average daily ridership and (ii) the average load factor of the service; (b) what is the total amount budgeted for the service; and (c) why is the People’s Association and South East Community Development Council providing public transport services directly and only for those residents instead of working with LTA to improve public transport services for all commuters in the area.

1. The Community Development Councils (CDC) are established to foster community bonding and strengthen social cohesion. They develop and implement new initiatives for their Districts, to foster a more inclusive community, taking into account the resident profiles and needs of their respective Districts.
2. The CDCs rally the community to donate to community causes, and also provide matching grants to support ground up community projects that meet the priority needs of the community.
3. The Grassroots Advisors of Marine Parade GRC, MacPherson SMC and Mountbatten SMC (collectively the “Marine Parade Town Cluster”) proposed a shuttle bus service that could complement the existing public transport service to better connect residents to various key nodes within the Marine Parade Town Cluster. Several factors were considered. These divisions have a high proportion of residents who are seniors. Seniors have given feedback that as they age and get more frail, it is more physically challenging to walk to the various transport, healthcare and community nodes. A significant part of Marine Parade Town Cluster also comprises older estates with narrow roads which are difficult to be served by large public buses.
4. Such community-based shuttle bus services are not new. In the past, a few Grassroots Advisors too have raised funds to organise such services in their respective Divisions.
5. In the case of Marine Parade, they have decided to do it as a Town Cluster, and for the shuttle bus to ply designated routes, with a limited number of designated stops, such as at Polyclinics, neighbourhood centres and MRT stations.
6. The shuttle bus operates in non-peak hours from 10am to 4pm on weekdays, excluding public holidays. The route is designed to help residents, especially frail and older residents, to get to key amenities more easily, and to encourage them to continue to lead active lifestyles and remain connected to the community.
7. The shuttle bus pilot costs approximately S$1m to operate annually. It covers a total of seven shuttle bus routes, operated by seven buses. This works out to approximately S$150,000 per division, for each route.
8. The South East CDC supported the pilot with a once-off seed grant of S$200,000. This amount came from the matching grants that the government provides to every CDC. Essentially, the government matches donations raised by the CDCs with grants, which the CDCs can use to support ground-up initiatives that foster a cohesive and inclusive community. The rest of the amount was raised from donations raised by the CDC, as well as by the respective Grassroots Organisations.
9. The pilot has just started, and it is too early to make an assessment on the effectiveness of the service. To date, over 10,000 have registered for the shuttle, of which over 40% are seniors 65 years and above. Around 1,000 residents have taken the shuttle service every week over the past three weeks.
10. Beyond utilisation, the critical factor is the financial sustainability of the service. As the CDC grant was provided on a once-off basis, the Marine Parade Town Cluster Grassroots Organisations will have to eventually raise funds to cover the entire cost of operations or refine its financing model for greater sustainability.
11. Operating an efficient and successful shuttle service at this scale is not straightforward. Many previous attempts at trying out local shuttle services have been discontinued, because of low utilisation or financial challenges. Hence there are still many aspects of the service to validate and refine through the pilot. The other CDCs will study the experiences and findings from this pilot first, before considering starting similar initiatives.
12. Today, MOT and LTA plan for public transport services, taking into consideration commuter demand, connectivity to key transport nodes and amenities, and financial sustainability. This does not preclude localised efforts, for example, private shuttles by condominiums or people sector transportation support for seniors – to address very specific needs. PA had consulted LTA to ensure that the shuttle bus services would not adversely affect public bus operations when using bus stops. This is similar to what LTA would do for other privately-operated free shuttle services.