The six-month trial has been launched with all Asia’s eyes on the country

Singapore launches an on-demand public bus service that uses technology that hopefully will reduce traffic congestion and costs with a model that can be implemented throughout many Asian gridlocked cities, reported by Reuters.

In a statement released by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA), commuters can request pickups and drop-offs at any bus stop within a designated area all through a mobile app with the bus system the country tries.

The technology it uses is claimed to optimize limited resources while offering convenient bus journeys for commuters in areas or during timings with low or unpredictable ridership.

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The test drives wide attention because it comes at a pressing time due to the same traffic congestion problems many big cities are experiencing.

It has gotten to the point where it affects the commuters’ lives as it drains resources and productivity, and worsens pollution.

The ride-hailing trend with the likes of Uber, Grab, Lyft, and other big names dominating the market and setting up new lifestyles turns out to contribute to the congestion problem, even after strict regulations by each country’s authorities.

This test has been run in parts of New York and Chicago before launching in Singapore. However, some came back with a negative result as it got costly for the city, like in Helsinki, Finland.

According to Walter Theseira, a transport specialist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. the higher density of 5.6 million people living in Singapore alone makes Singapore a potentially good, economically feasible ground for the technology to work.

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Theseira, furthermore, emphasized how strict regulations in the country for private transport have caused the house high costs for private alternatives, making the on-demand bus technology all the more attractive.
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Photo by Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash

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