Volvo Buses
Singapore
From the first air-conditioned buses bringing soothing relief from tropical Lion City heat back then to world-leading automated bus trials now, Volvo Bus has always led the way.
Laying one degree north of the equator, at the southern point of the 'Peninsula Malay', Singapore's humidity is ultimately best addressed by trying to mentally ignore it. Block it out at all costs, they say. Yet while that's still easier said than done these days, the 'uncomfortability' would have been exacerbated tenfold if stuck on a Singaporean bus circa 1979, as it made its way through crawling city traffic, with no immediate cooling relief in sight.
With the only thing moving fast being beads of sweat dripping down hapless bus commuters' faces, this was something that needed immediate addressing — which Volvo did in 1985 with its first trial of the AC B10M, when it brought in the first air-conditioned buses for Singaporean roads.
This, among many other advancements, upgrades and achievements, has undoubtedly made Volvo Bus the leader in the Lion City's public transport world.
Here, we take a nostalgic look at the company's proud history of providing city and private transport solutions there for the past four decades.
Mission Statement
Volvo was founded in Sweden in 1927 and a year later its first bus rolled out onto the streets. The company started with a vision of safe and efficient transportation for everyone. Ever since, Volvo has been at the technological forefront and for decades it has maintained a solid position as the world leader in commercial transportation technology, it states.
Bringing its expertise to the Asian transport hub that is Singapore seemed an inevitable feat.
“It's hard to believe it's been 40 years since Volvo Bus first started supplying, maintaining and advancing its state-of-the-art buses here — particularly as a way for commuters to help beat the city's tropical heat,” said Volvo Bus Asia-Pacific vice president, David Mead.
"Photo credit to SK Santhosh”
“It's a unique urban environment given the comparative high cost of private-car ownership and Singapore's Certificate of Entitlement, making public transport key to the success and very functionality of many people's lives, so we are proud and honoured to have gone some way to help facilitate that — for locals and tourists alike — during the past 40 years.
“Our technological advancements are of such value to what we are trying to achieve as a global leader in bus and public transport that the best of such endeavours are only realised when tested purely in cities and regions that truly bring out their best. “Singapore has been one of those areas and it was thus a logical choice for us — along with the government, tertiary and public support — to recently launch one of first major fully automated electric Volvo 7900 bus tests.
“Collectively, with the vital assistance of Nanyang Technological University, we'll be helping shape the way such landmark technology is used and future, refining it with ultimate reliability, efficiency and — most importantly — safety in mind,” Mead explained.
A Legacy Begins
For four decades, Volvo Bus has enjoyed many firsts, brought new innovations, and provided great products and services to Singapore, it states.
In 1979 the Swedish giant landed a very large order to supply SBS Transit with a total of 350 units of B57 buses — at a time when local buses were not yet air-conditioned.
Throughout the 1980s Volvo continued to get orders for the B10M, one of the first mid-engined buses ever introduced into Asia, which served Singapore commuters well for more than 20 years.
As Singapore's population grew from around 2.4 million circa 1979 to more than 5.5 million as of 2017, so did Volvo Buses. It's been working tirelessly with local body builders to make the best complete bus unit that can be made, it states.
The European designed and engineered chassis are manufactured in Sweden and the body-builder partners — like Wrightbus, Volgren and MCV to name a few — add their bodies to it. Yet it is not so simple sounding as connecting a few blocks of Lego; Volvo Bus and the body builders have worked exceedingly closely to ensure supreme quality levels are met while there's a lot of adaptation required to meet the needs of local public transport expectations.
One of the biggest moments in the company's illustrious history was the launch of double-decker buses in Singapore. While it was British Leyland that made the double-deck bus concept famous around the world, it was Volvo Buses that bought out British Leyland Buses in 1989 and soon introduced 200 Leyland Olympian units to the market. These were the first three-axle double-deck city buses that were fully air-conditioned in Singapore.
A sensational hit with the local travelling public and transport operators alike, there was soon a continued order of 470 Volvo Olympian three-axle air-conditioned double-deckers to come. As a concept, these double-decks became very popular thanks to their high passenger capacity — and to date Volvo has put in excess of 2500 of them onto Singaporean roads.
Firsts Upon Firsts
Population booms mean all types of bus sizing and configurations need to be factored in to maximise various-length routes at various peak and low times throughout the day. In 1996, Volvo chose Singapore as its launch pad for a very special product from its vast range, giving it the longest bus in Asia: the 19-metre B10 articulated and air-conditioned bus.
Along with a 14.4-metre three-axle rigid bus, the two niche products were uniquely tailored to local conditions in close collaboration with local body makers and they successfully served throughout their entire vehicle lives in Singaporean operation.
It should be noted that Volvo Bus has been keeping in mind not only the performance of its products, but also the ease and comfort of the driver and its passengers.
In addition to bringing the first air-conditioned city bus to this tropical island, the first 'true low floor' city bus was introduced in 1999 with the B10TL (Super Olympian model) double-decker.
Merely three years later — in line with a city 'cleaner environment' project — the first 12 B10BLE-CNG units (featuring low entry, running on compressed natural gas) were delivered.
Additionally, as another first, to continuously keep up with the high standard of public transport service and exercising its due diligence in accommodating all local customers' travel requirements, Volvo delivered the Lion City's first batch of buses with wheelchair access in 2006.
BUS CONTRACTS — A TURNING POINT
While the history of Volvo buses in Singapore has been one of continuous development, a big change occurred in 2015 for the company when the Land Transport Authority (LTA) took control of the purchase of city buses, which they then leased to companies such as SBS and SMRT.
The 'Bus Contracting Model' — a new framework for transportation solution introduced by LTA to allow public bus services to be more responsive to changes in ridership and commuter needs — encouraged competition between bus operators. Prior to this, tenders were given by the particular bus operators looking to add to their fleets. However, under the Bus Contracting Model, local and overseas bus operators bid for contracts to operate public bus services on behalf of LTA.
The big impact of the Bus Contracting Model on Volvo was the growth of bus depots.
Previously SBS had five depots where the maintenance work was done, while SMRT had three. When the LTA expanded the depots to 12, and Volvo buses started to operate out of all the depots, it meant parts and services had to be provided over a much greater geographical area, which it has expertly adapted to.
As per current expectations, in 2020 new depots will be added on the island meaning service, technical support, and the parts inventory will again have to be expanded exponentially, which Volvo has already proactively accounted for.
PRIVATE OPERATORS, PREMIUM COACHES
Visitors from around the world will attest to how much of a major tourism hot spot in Asia Singapore is and its reputation as a leading global airline stopover is second to none. Once on the ground and with time to spare, visitors are well primed to take advantage of the Island's beauty and enchanting destinations — and this is where its coach travel sector comes in.
For most of its 40-year history in Singapore, Volvo did not get into private buses in a very big way. Until 2016 that is, when the company started putting more emphasis on this segment and now has a running population of 80 units on the road — and even across the border into Malaysia.
In terms of bespoke product, some coach units have been very specialised, with one unit even going to the Singapore Civil Defence Force as the basis of a special project. Another was sold to Singapore Airlines to be used as a maintenance and repair mobile workshop, which conveniently and safely attends to the aircraft wherever and whenever needed.
With longevity being the key, most buses will be used for 17 years based on local Singaporean regulation; however, the Volvo buses are built for reliability and durability that should last for more than 20 years, the company proudly confirms.
For private operators Volvo offers the B8R 320hp fully automatic transmission chassis — mostly used in Singapore — and the B11R 430hp with the award-winning Volvo I-shift transmission. This advanced piece of technology is more suitable for long-distance touring and city-to-city travel.
With global emissions standards needing to be met, both buses are Euro 6 compliant no less. So who uses them? The near 30 international schools in Singapore are one of the users of Volvo's private buses. Coaches are utilised for 'transporting' both students and company staff. Yes, 'transporting'. For example, Yeap Transport Pte Ltd manages more than 400 buses, and they have become a loyal customer ever since the company started introducing premium coaches to Singapore, Volvo says.
Another leading customer is ComfortDelGro Bus Pte Ltd (CDGB), which bought close to 25 units to transport staff and tourists across the Island.
With the tourism segment constantly growing, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has also been an avid supporter of Volvo with its full fleet of 25 units belonging to the brand, as well as SDC also taking the full-time service contract for 10 years, which was recently renewed.
Yet through word of mouth and proven success of the Volvo product in this particular business space, there's always been a growing fan base for Volvo Buses, with companies like Travelzone Network Services, Metro Coach Services, Sin Ann Travel & Coach Services and Regency Travel Pte Ltd etc also happy to enmesh their tourist operations with the big Swede's comfortable, reliable and more environmentally friendly systems and support structures.
A 40-YEAR JOURNEY
1979 First bus order in Singapore: 100 units B57 single-deck city buses
1985 Launch of first mid-engined bus: the Volvo B10M
1991 Delivery of 200 Volvo Olympian fully air-conditioned double-deck buses
1999 Launch of first low-floor double-deck bus: the Volvo B10TL
2002 Introduction of the Volvo B10LE CNG bus
2006 Delivery of 200 Euro 3 Volvo B9TL double-deckers with wheelchair access
2010 Delivery of 450 Volvo B9TL Euro 5 double-deckers
2017 Introduction of first Euro 6 Volvo B8R chassis
2018 Launch of first Volvo diesel-electric hybrid bus for Singapore
2019 Launch of world’s first fully autonomous electric bus in Singapore
