By Yeo Ghim Lay & Cheryl Ong

COMMUTERS who take the jam- acked 196 bus are breathing a sigh of relief as passenger numbers have eased recently.

Known to be Singapore's most crowded bus route in a review released, it is now meeting the standards set by the Public Transport Council, said operator SBS Transit.

The review was conducted from June 1 to Nov 30 last year and its results were announced on Monday.

SBS Transit was fined $4,500 for overcrowding and falling short in waiting times for some services.

Among these was service 196, which was more than 95 per cent full in 10 instances from July to September last year.

Since then, SBS Transit has taken steps to ease overcrowding on board. "In fact, we have been meeting the Quality of Service Standards since October last year," said SBS Transit spokesman Tammy Tan yesterday.

It has added buses to the route and is also operating more short trips to the Central Business District to improve the service's capacity.

Currently, average daily ridership on the 196 service during peak hours is about 7,500.

The service runs from Bedok to Clementi via Shenton Way.

A Straits Times check yesterday morning at a bus stop along Mountbatten Road found most passengers managed to get on board service 196 when it arrived.

Previously, many commuters could not board the bus during peak hours as it was full of passengers from the Marine Parade area by the time it arrived at the Mountbatten Road stop.

Administrative clerk Yeap Chen Yen, 28, who lives at Mountbatten Road, takes the service every morning to her office at Redhill.

She did not board the first bus that came along yesterday as it was crowded, and waited for the next one, which arrived six minutes later.

"In the past, you'd have to squeeze with other passengers, even on the second bus. But it was a lot less crowded today," said Miss Yeap.

Besides taking service 196, commuters can also hop on service 196A, which serves a popular section of the route, or the Fast Forward service 196e, which skips certain stops. Both run during weekday peak hours.

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