‘No way around it’: Will Sembawang residents forever face the longest commute to work?

“Now, the problem is ‘solved’ because there is a new Sheng Siong Supermarket nearer to me,” he said wryly. 

Mr Cheok said the inconvenience of getting around has turned him into more of a homebody since he moved to the neighbourhood from Yishun and he hopes to move to a more centrally-located neighbourhood eventually.

Ms Ang agreed that the most difficult part of her commute is getting a bus to the MRT station. 

“If I were to move, I would move to somewhere within walking distance of an MRT station,” she said. 

FEW ALTERNATIVES TO USING SEMBAWANG MRT STATION

While most of the residents CNA TODAY spoke to complained about the lack of feeder buses, some also pointed to the lack of viable alternatives to taking a train from Sembawang MRT station to central locations. 

Sembawang residents currently have a few bus options to get to the city centre. 

There is 980, which passes by Little India and Bugis, and terminates at Geylang, as well as 167, which passes by Orchard, The Esplanade and Tanjong Pagar before terminating at Bukit Merah.  

Even with these two buses, residents said the MRT system is still the most efficient option for them.

For one thing, bus service 167, which was nearly canned in 2023 due to falling ridership, operates only at 30-minute intervals. Bus 980 also is not the most accessible for many Sembawang residents, said Mr Cheok. 

“(The bus) cuts through the middle of Sembawang. And because of that, most people have to walk there, which is another 10 to 15 minutes,” he said.