24-year-old student, Ng Tze Chong, wasnÂ’t quite sure what heÂ’d walked into when he boarded Bus 153 at the Hougang Interchange.
It was 11.45pm, Tuesday (23 Jan) and he was on the last bus out of the interchange. The normal rows of seats had been removed, and in its place, a decor that would have been just right for a lounge.
Tze Chong who was headed out to meet a friend knew he was in for a fun ride as other passengers were bound to be caught unawares.
“I was amused to see the initial reaction of those who boarded the bus,” he said.
But everyone recovered quite quickly and made their way to a seat.
Tze Chong loves the look of the bus interior but wonders how practical it is as there may not be enough seats for all.
But he figures it must be part of a big publicity campaign by Nokia as he saw huge ads by the mobile phone company all over the bus.
Still, there are no complaints by him as he looks forward to the day when he is alone in the bus and “can stretch out and sleep on the back sofa”.
Lim Soon Hua, Manager of SBS groupÂ’s corporate communications gave the following reply:
There are three buses in this Nokia promotion. They are deployed on services 132, 162 and 153 and are over and above our scheduled number of buses for these services. The feedback we have received is generally positive. Some passengers were surprised by the overall look and feel of the buses and many were actually seen taking photographs of the interior.
The often heard comments are “it really offers an enjoyable and comfortable ride” and “I like the music on board.
The free rides on special routes started from Dec 06 and will stretch till Mar 07. These routes are planned to cover areas in the vicinity of the pubs.
From 20/1 to 16/2, the Nokia Music Bus will ply on its special routes from Wed to Sat. The free rides are between 9pm to 1am. Any other days, commuters will have to pay their fares as per the norm.
I just got back from school with a friend.
took bus 153 and we were shocked at how revamped the bus' interior was.
you know they even had some bar counter and chairs at the front part of the bus man..
the bus journey was so comfortable that even when there were some old people who came up, I couldn't bear to give me seat up to them,
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