Implementation of Wheelchair-Accessible Bus (WAB) Services

Prototype of SBS Transit's Volvo B9TL (CDGE)

Introduction

On 15th February 2006, SBS Transit unveiled a prototype of the first wheelchair accessible bus (WAB) with the then Minister for Transport Mr Yeo Cheow Tong. It features a low-floor step-free interior, a manual wheel-chair ramp installed at the exit doors as well as a specially-designated area for wheelchair passengers, which 150 units will be rolled out on revenue service by the end of that year. These features were introduced inline with the recommendations by the Committee on Ageing Issues. The Government funded the incremental capital cost of the provision of manual ramps and associated features such as the dedicated bell-push button, padded backrest, horizontal handrail and vertical stanchion pole. Road infrastructure improvement works were done to enhance accessibility for commuting passengers in wheelchairs (PIWs).

On 26th June 2006, the first WAB service was launched on SBS Transit Service 21, consisting of a fleet of 23 buses inclusive of 10 Volvo B9TL (CDGE) buses. Service 21 was chosen after the consultation with the Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWOs) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) as it serves the Handicaps Welfare Association (HWA) in Whampoa and key medical facilities such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital and VWOs. PIWs were given free travel on the WAB-friendly buses till end July.

On 30th October 2006, the second WAB service was launched on SBS Transit Service 147 with 19 Volvo B9TL (CDGE) buses in the fleet of 37 buses, which mean that one in two buses will be wheelchair-accessible during peak hours.

On 1st June 2009, SMRT launched their first batch of WAB services on 1st June 2009, with the roll out of 134 units of WAB-friendly Mercedes-Benz OC500LE (Gemilang) single-decker buses.

Since then, existing bus services were progressively declared with WAB statuses, with new WAB-friendly buses rolled out as part of the fleet renewal exercise.

Today, all new bus routes are given the WAB service status upon introduction.

List of WAB services

Year	Date	Bus services
2006	26 June	21
	30 October	147
	3 December	12, 196, 198
2007	22 May	2, 51, 72, 76
	20 August	7, 80
	17 December	143
2008	14 July	14, 123, 174, 185
	2 December	64, 130, 183, 199, 232, 268
2009	1 June	171, 172, 189, 307, 811, 851, 945
	26 October	3, 27, 34, 53, 142, 293, 358, 410
	3 December	13, 15, 36, 52, 54, 57, 291, 333
2010	28 February	29, 63, 113, 265, 334, 359
	28 June	45, 48, 59, 94, 240, 242
	18 October	43, 95, 181, 228, 235
	29 November	858
	2 December	24, 86, 151, 225, 231, 335
2011	7 March	18, 22, 55, 60, 135, 136, 162, 162M, 241, 261, 269
	27 June	5, 17, 38, 39, 99, 194, 354, 400, 402
	26 September	19, 100, 109, 133, 138, 154, 156, 315, 317
	3 December	16, 30, 61, 87, 101, 131, 175, 272, 273, 275, 282, 284, 285, 292, 403, 855, 920, 922, 950
2012	26 March	10, 25, 58, 66, 69, 105, 165, 168
	29 April	187, 852, 857, 970
	25 June	33, 78, 79, 96, 97, 98, 98M, 124, 125, 197, 243
	1 July	75, 77, 177, 700, 700A
	30 September	56, 128, 163, 163M, 166, 186, 195, 229, 502, 502A, 506
	15 November	167, 859, 860, 966, 980, 985
	3 December	32, 70, 70M, 73, 93, 111, 238, 325, 372, 518, 518A
2013	31 March	4, 50, 62, 82, 116, 119, 132, 158, 513
	21 April	173, 882, 941, 981
	9 June	85, 88, 112, 120, 145, 222
	7 July	902, 965, 969
	29 September	178, 853, 853#, 904, 947
	30 September	20, 141, 157, 182, 182M, 192
	3 December	6, 40, 90, 139
2014	2 March	803, 927, 961, 961#, 972
	23 March	26, 35, 49, 65, 161
	18 May	143M
	29 June	83, 121, 155, 371
	17 August	859B
	14 September	139M
	29 September	11, 42, 74, 92, 386
	3 December	9, 17A, 43M, 91, 103, 115, CT8, CT18
2015	22 March	176, 188, 188E, 188R, 990
	30 March	41, 140, 159, 201, 324, 405
	14 June	106, 190, 301, 804, 911, 963, 963E, 963R, 983
	22 June	31, 89, 122, 200
	16 August	53M
	30 August	92M
	20 September	102
	28 September	28, 74e, 97e, 153, 174e
	11 October	67, 169, 854, 854E, 901, 925, 925#
	21 November	258
	3 December	14e, 89e, 107, 107M, 151e, 179
	20 December	47, 117, 118
	27 December	979
2016	3 January	382
	25 January	30e, 196e, 246, 249, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257
	14 February	805
	20 March	134, 150
	21 March	181M
	28 March	1N, 2N, 3N, 4N, 5N, 6N, 408, 552, 553, 554, 565, 585, CT28
	3 April	302, 800, 812, 903, 912, 913, 960, 962
	24 April	979M
	15 May	308
	27 June	10e, 37, 533, 534, 535, 536, 538, 539, 544, 545, 549, 555, 560, 561, 563, 564
	1 September	240M, 912M
	23 October	883
	18 December	127, 129
	26 December	262
2017	13 January	903M
	13 February	193
	26 February	973
	12 March	374, 381
	13 April	653
	17 April	656
	24 April	657
	18 June	247, 248
	9 July	329
	16 July	84, 180, 806, 926, 975
	21 August	8, 23, 46, 81, 160, 170, 170X, 191, 401, 655
	27 August	944
	17 September	850E, 856, 868, 951E, 971E, 982E, BPS1
	28 September	663
	12 October	665
	15 October	807
	21 October	137, 298
	22 October	110
	9 December	71
	17 December	184, 300, 900, 900A, 964, NR1, NR2, NR3, NR5, NR6, NR7, NR8
2018	28 January	12e, 147e
	1 April	68
	8 April	974
	27 May	851e
	8 July	991
	28 October	960e
	25 November	167e
2019	2 January	660, 661
	17 March	913M
	23 June	901M
	22 July	654
	9 September	43e
	17 October	825
	10 November	976
2020	6 January	652
	12 January	883M
	13 January	651, 671, 672
	2 March	666
	9 March	16M, 667
	30 March	670
	26 July	160M
	30 August	972M
	31 August	971
	25 October	114
	14 December	668
	27 December	384
2021	26 September	248M
	29 November	117M
2022	23 January	801

Other information

Legend

Bold	Services that were declared WAB status on its first day of introduction.
Strikethrough	Services that were declared WAB status and subsequently withdrawn.
Strikethrough with underline	Services that were declared WAB status and subsequently transferred to another private operator.
Green	Services that were declared WAB status under Tower Transit operations.
Purple	Services that were declared WAB status under SBS Transit operations.
Red	Services that were declared WAB status under SMRT Buses operations.
Yellow	Services that were declared WAB status under Go-Ahead operations.