MORE TO IT THAN CHASING BUSES
BENEDICT KOK asks a bus enthusiast about bus routes, and he confidently says he remembers them all.
Singapore has more than 300 bus services in operation, but throw any service number at him, and Eric Yu will be able to tell you the routes that each service takes from the beginning to the end. More often than not, he’s usually correct.
Eric, 18, is an Aerospace Electronics student at Singapore Polytechnic, but he also has an unusual interest in public transport that’s not that common in Singapore.
On a typical day of pursuing his interest, Eric would photograph rare buses he spots on roads. These rare finds typically include buses of older models that have mostly been decommissioned, or newer models that have just hit the roads. This practice is
commonly known as bus-spotting, and there are a few communities dedicated to it in Singapore.
However, what sets him apart from these bus-spotters is his interest in bus routes.
“Each route is unique,” Eric says, “despite the difference in distance, some people may choose to take the faster service, and some people may choose to take the other service because it goes to their town or their estate and is more convenient.”
Eric Yu, 18, on one of his trips to the bus interchange. PHOTO BY: Eric Yu
For Eric, it’s about how public transport affects and influences our lives that piques his interest.
“I'll just take it and see how it can benefit commuters, or how it has an impact on the current public transport outlook,” says Eric.
Usually, Eric pursues his interests alone to have more freedom to plan his own itinerary. However, he occasionally joins his friends as he finds that they can share knowledge with one another, and the bond that they have over their interests makes it worthwhile as well.
Eric’s interest was sparked in primary school, after being intrigued by the bunching of buses outside of his school’s bus stop. After further research into it, Eric found himself fascinated by how transport systems worked and the many factors that affected the connectivity and efficiency of transport systems. By the time he was 12, he found himself taking field trips out to explore bus interchanges and ride routes.
The ability to remember each service and their routes is the accumulation of his years of interest in bus routes. Eric admits that having this ability is useful at times. Friends would usually approach him for help “if they had a really bad sense of direction”, he says jokingly.
When asked about how well he felt he knew about Singapore’s public transport system, Eric confidently says, “Very well, I think I pretty much have it all remembered.”
A picture of a bus that Eric spotted on one of his trips. PHOTO BY: Eric Yu
Mr Caleb Chua, 18, mentions how he feels about Eric as a friend.
“It’s my first time knowing someone who has this ‘special ability’,” he says. “His interest in buses is a very niche one, and it’s quite hard to find people who have similar interests as him.” However, he also mentioned that Eric can get carried away at times, and it can be frustrating when he rattles on about his knowledge.
Singapore’s community of bus enthusiasts still exists amidst the pandemic, but it may seem that the community has broken into smaller groups. Mark, who is known as (buses[IN]gapore!) online, and is a prominent member among the bus enthusiast community, shares more about the state of the community.
“There’s tons of factions,” he says, “maybe each faction [has] 7 to 10 people, ... then there’s just me and my group of friends who just do what we can to write our own stories.”
Mark mentions that each group usually “does their own thing”, and many of these groups remain secretive about the information they receive on any bus-related activities. However, he expresses confidence that the community is alive, and will continue strong into the future.
In the future, Eric aspires to become an engineer, but hopes to be able to work part-time at SMRT to offer directions to people.
“There may be some people who do not think that this hobby is worth pursuing,” Eric says, “but if you feel like you have the passion, then just do it.”