Singapore’s Bus ETA System to Be Restored Over Four Days

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore announced on January 21, 2023, that the restoration of its Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) system will take approximately four days following a significant technical issue. The ETA system, which provides estimated bus arrival times at bus stops and through various transport applications, was affected after a reset was performed on the evening of January 20, 2023. This reset was necessitated by inaccuracies in the displayed wait times for buses.

As a result of the malfunction, commuters were unable to access bus arrival data on electronic displays at stops and interchanges, as well as on popular apps including MyTransport.SG, CityMapper, and Google Maps. LTA engineers, along with contractors managing the ETA system, identified a “memory cache build-up” within the on-board systems of numerous buses, impacting around 50 percent of the bus fleet across all operators.

Technical Recovery Underway

To rectify the issue, technicians must physically service the on-board devices of the affected buses to clear the cache. Given the scale of this undertaking, LTA stated that the restoration process is expected to last about four days. During this time, the ETA system will be reactivated at the start of passenger service on January 21, 2023, to enable testing and stabilize operations. However, commuters should anticipate that bus arrival timings will remain partially unavailable or inaccurate throughout this period.

LTA noted that over 60 percent of the bus arrival timings will be accessible from January 23, 2023, at key touchpoints such as electronic passenger information displays and transport applications. Commuters may still experience missing or inaccurate arrival timings for some bus services, but these discrepancies are expected to decrease as the system is progressively restored.

Background of the Technical Issue

The problems with the ETA system were first detected on January 10, 2023, when preliminary findings highlighted an “intermittent transmission” issue affecting a small number of buses. These issues persisted and worsened throughout the following week, leading to missed predictions for bus arrivals within the network.

Despite the ongoing technical difficulties, bus services have continued to operate at their regular frequencies. Commuters can check the frequency of bus services through the SimplyGo platform and the websites of public transport operators.

The LTA remains committed to restoring full functionality to the ETA system as quickly and efficiently as possible, aiming to minimize inconvenience for Singapore’s commuters. Further updates will be communicated as the restoration process progresses.