In an effort to improve the visibility of bus service numbers for the elderly and persons with slight visual impairments, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) implemented a new Electronic Display Sign (EDS) format, where the enlarged service number is displayed in the middle of the EDS.
According to a Facebook post by the LTA, the EDS on these buses will alternate between the default display showing the service number, destination and route, and the new display showing the enlarged service number only.
While LTA’s social media posts indicated that the new EDS display “would be progressively implemented” on various bus services from Monday, 6 Nov 2023, the “number only” EDS display had been reportedly seen on several bus services as early as April 2023.
Unofficial Implementation of “Number Only” EDS Displays (Apr 2023 – Nov 2023)
In April 2023, the LTA unofficially implemented the “number only” EDS display on 4 bus services from each public bus operator in Singapore – 77 (Tower Transit), 142 (SBS Transit), 359 (Go-Ahead), 970 (SMRT Buses).
While no official explanation for the new EDS display was offered by the LTA or the Public Transport Operators (PTOs) at the time, it was assumed that the display was aimed at improving visibility of the bus service number for commuters with poorer or limited vision, which was similar to the acrylic signages utilised on older public buses. Such plastic destination signs (destos) by SBS and TIBS were deemed more feasible for buses purchased at the time, due to their lower costs to maintain compared to flip-dot EDS displays.
Announcement of Official Implementation of “Number Only” EDS Displays
On Monday, 6 Nov 2023, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) officially announced the “number only” EDS display on their Facebook page and Instagram account, indicating their plans to implement the new EDS display across more bus services from all 4 public bus operators progressively.
In their social media posts, the LTA indicated that the new EDS format was aimed at “improving the visibility of bus service numbers for the elderly and persons with slight visual impairments”, and will alternate between the default display showing the service number, destination and route, and the “number only” display.
Currently, most route variants (including Express route variants), short-trip services, terminating trips (i.e. bus services with an alphabet suffix) have not been implemented with the “number only” EDS display.
Based on ground observations, the “number only” EDS displays have been implemented on the following additional bus services and bus models as of Saturday, 23 Dec 2023:
- SBS Transit
- Scania K230UB (Euro V) single-deck buses operating out of Braddell Bus Park – Service 142 only^
- MAN A22 (Euro V) single-deck buses
- Mercedes-Benz Citaro single-deck buses
- SMRT Buses
- MAN A22 (Euro V) single-deck buses
- Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses
- MAN A95 (Euro V) double-deck buses
- Tower Transit
- BYD C6 minibuses
- Mercedes-Benz Citaro single-deck buses
- Mercedes-Benz OC500LE single-deck buses
- MAN A22 (Euro V) single-deck buses
- Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-deck buses
- MAN A95 (Euro V) double-deck buses
- Volvo B9TL (Wright Eclipse Gemini II) double-deck buses
- Go-Ahead
- Mercedes-Benz Citaro single-deck buses
- Volvo B9TL (Wright Eclipse Gemini II) double-deck buses
^since Apr 2023
Gallery (“Number Only” EDS Displays):
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