Missing the NightRider bus

Partygoers and nightlife workers are nostalgic for the defunct transport service, and wonder if the Republic can truly be a 24-hour city without it

- Teo Kai Xiang

The old NR1 bus route ferried passengers from night spots to heartland neighbourhoods.

(PHOTO: ST FILE)

"My very first time partying, I went home on a NightRider bus," says Mr Sivanesh Pillai. "It was a really important part of my clubbing, having an affordable way to get back home.

In 2006, Mr Pillai paid just $3 for his late-night journey home to Yishun from the city centre. Back then, the NightRider buses operated from 11.30pm to 4.30am, covering that stretch of the early hours when the MRT lines cease to run.

"That bus was a game changer," says the DJ, wistful about an era when revellers would club-hop across Singapore, ferried on one of the late-night city centre buses.

These days, patrons stick to a single venue before calling it a night. Mr Pillai now walks between venues to avoid late-night cab fares.

The 39-year-old is half of husband-and-wife DJ collective Sivilian Affairs. He represents a growing chorus of nightlife workers wondering if recent moves to extend liquor licensing hours at Clarke Quay and Boat Quay can succeed without corresponding transport availability.

Even as a growing number of global cities - such as London and Tokyo - are embracing the 24-hour city model to reinvigorate their economies, Singapore's after-hours scene has ebbed and flowed over the past two decades.

For many nightlife workers speaking to The Straits Times, the sector's fortunes seem intertwined with Singapore's now-defunct late-night bus service.

Launched in 2000, the Night Rider bus service initially connected the downtown core with heartland neighbourhoods during the early morning hours when MRT trains were not operational.

At its peak, the network spanned 22 routes, including heartland-to-heartland connections and city centre loops between Marina Bay and the Central Business District.