New system on trial gives bus drivers 'extra eyes'

System being piloted on 27 SBS Transit buses also warns of lane departures, forward collisions

- Taryn Ng

When Mr Tan Chee Kiong, a senior bus captain with public bus company SBS Transit (SBST), is at the controls of bus service 81, the roads are quite often clogged before Nex shopping mall and along the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway.

Besides turning his head to check his blind spots, and looking into the rear and side mirrors of his bus, the 39-year-old also has to keep watch for cyclists and motorcyclists who might suddenly get in the way.

He now has greater peace of mind as the bus he commands is one of 27 in SBST's fleet fitted with a new collision warning system, Agil DriveSafe+, under a six-month pilot by the bus operator and technology and engineering group ST Engineering. The trial will end in mid-October.

The system is being tested on bus services 29, 40, 81 and 137.

Bus service 81, which Mr Tan serves, covers areas such as Tampines, Pasir Ris and Serangoon.

The initiative which SBST and ST Engineering described as the first 360-degree advanced collision warning system to be tested on buses here - was unveiled on May 24 at Bedok North Bus Depot.

Speaking in Mandarin, Mr Tan said: "It has two pairs of eyes, while I have only one."