List of former bus stations in Singapore
Encyclopedia
This is a non-exhaustive listing of former bus
interchanges or terminals that were once part of Singapore's bus system
, and decommissioned due to geographical retention or the introduction of new town centre
s, or creation of consolidated transportation hubs.
Bus Interchange was established to serve the developing northern corridor of Singapore in the early-80s, and was strategically located next to the Woodlands Checkpoint & Customs, the gateway to Johor, Malaysia. The bus interchange was based along Woodlands Centre Road, the former town centre of the then newly created Woodlands New Town. Woodlands had since grew to become one of the most prosperous new towns and her parent GRC, Sembawang GRC, became the largest single GRC in Singapore.
The announcement to build the North-South Line MRT extension and the Woodlands MRT Station
that was scheduled to complete and open on 10 February 1996, accelerated plans to relocate and develop an entirely new town centre for Woodlands New Town at Woodlands Square, the new regional centre for Woodlands or more precisely, the entire Sembawang GRC. In late-1996, electronic display boards of TIBS buses serving the Woodlands Bus Interchange began to display notices that the TIBS Woodlands' fleet would be moving to the new interchange at Woodlands Square, Singapore's first mass underground bus interchange – Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange
, conveniently located under the Woodlands MRT Station
, and is connected to Causeway Point
Shopping Centre with escalators.
Hougang South Bus Interchange was a bus interchange
, located in Hougang Street 21, which ceased operations on 13 February 2004. The interchange's structure continues to stand pending a major redevelopment of the site, and is currently called Kovan Hub. In the meantime, the vacated building is used to host exhibitions and for commercial purposes, and the bus lots as parking space.
The Hougang South Bus Interchange started operations as Hougang Bus Interchange, serving Hougang New Town. The new town, at that time was just four neighbourhoods, with large tracts to the northwest of Upper Serangoon Road still undeveloped. The commercial centre at Hougang Street 21 thus served as a town centre. From the 1990s, however, the town was rapidly expanded with five more neighbourhoods constructed, and a new, permanent town centre further north was built. As is the case for all other bus interchanges (except the Eunos Bus Interchange
) in which they are located in their respective town centres, the Hougang Bus Interchange was to be moved to the new town centre, while the existing facility will be demolished.
When this plan was publicised, it created an uproar amongst the local populance, particularly shopowners in Hougang Street 21. With the help of local politicians, the protests were made to the relevant authorities, resulting in a delay in the interchange's closure. The government was adamant on removing the interchange, however, as it insists it makes little sense to have two bus interchanges in one town, and the opening of the Kovan MRT Station
on the North East MRT Line
will help to continue bringing in the crowds. It proceeded to build a new, permanent interchange, known as the Hougang Central Bus Interchange
, and renamed the existing interchange as the Hougang South Bus Interchange. Although it no longer operates as a bus interchange, locals can still alight and disembark there as a bus stop.
Kovan Hub also serves as a transit stop for coaches to and from Malaysia with popular destinations such as Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur, most of which are of the Super VIP type.
and East Coast areas. However it was not well utilized as many prefer to board buses more conveniently along Marine Parade Road instead. When the site was slated as the new site of Victoria School
, the terminal was demolished to make way. Most services that used to terminate currently have to make a loop around the school site. Service 13 and 853C were extended to the then newly opened Upper East Coast Terminal
. Service 196 was extended to Bedok Bus Interchange
. In 2007, service 16 had also relocated to Bedok Bus Interchange
instead of its normal loop to Bukit Merah Bus Interchange
Before the Terminal shifted to its former site in the 1980s, it was located at Marine Terrace within the Marine Parade housing estate. There were services 15, 16 and 211. Service 15 evolved into the current service 196, service 16 remains today with some changes, while service 211 was a feeder service to Katong which was withdrawn in the early 1980s.
Woodlands New Town was speedily developing in the mid-80s and first plans to build an entirely new bus interchange to replace the relatively small Marsiling Bus Terminal surfaces after Woodlands become part of the new Sembawang GRC in 1988. By mid-90s, the Woodlands Bus Interchange based at Woodlands Centre Road was fully functional. Marsiling Bus Terminal continued operations with services 950, 951, 952 - with 950 plying the route to Shenton Way, 951 to Boon Lay and 952 to Marina Centre, were periodically moved to the new bus interchange. The closure of the bus terminal comes as TIBS axed the 95x services, in favour of the new 96x services that served the downtown city areas.
. A victim of rapid urban development and shifting demographies, it was relegated from the main terminal serving the Sin Ming and Upper Thomson area, until the development of Bishan resulted in a reconfiguration of the urban makeup and shifted the population towards the east, where the Bishan Bus Interchange
was built in the new town centre. Service 130, the only service operated by Singapore Bus Services which used to terminate at this terminal was amended to call at Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange
instead. The terminal was then handed over to the management of TIBS Holdings
, which operates SSB's CSS 605 to the terminal.
However, when the terminal was under the management of SSB, SBS introduced a new feeder Service 353 (Sin Ming Rd - Bishan St 31) in 1988 to ply from Sin Ming Rd to the new satellite town of Bishan. In 1989, the service was re-routed to start from Bishan Bus Interchange and was renumbered as Service 57 and withdrawn subsequently.
The terminal was one of the few surviving terminals of the 1970s era in which it was common for terminals to built along the road side with only a small booth for drivers to report to when completing their runs.
carpark, at the junction of Upper Changi Road East and Simei Road. It was opened as Somapah Bus Interchange in 1982 and closed in 1989.
The terminal was originally a bus maintenance and refuelling depot owned by the then Associated Bus Company that ran two services, numbered 1 and 2, from Changi Point
to the city.
Currently it is being used as a temporary storage depot for construction equipment and materials for the rapidly developing Changi Business Park, which was once Somapah Village.
. An integrated transport hub encompasses an air-conditioned bus interchange, a shopping mall and a MRT/LRT station which is either located inside the building if it is underground or adjacent to it if it is elevated. There are currently six such hubs, namely, the HDB Hub, Compass Point Shopping Centre
, Ang Mo Kio Hub, Jurong Point Shopping Mall
, nex
and Clementi Mall
. Transport Minister Raymond Lim said in a speech on 18 January 2008 that by 2018, five more such hubs will be constructed in Bedok
, Jurong East
, Bishan
, Joo Koon
, and Marina South
to keep up with the developments in the surrounding areas.
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
interchanges or terminals that were once part of Singapore's bus system
Bus transport in Singapore
Bus transport in Singapore is the most comprehensive and affordable means of public transport for the masses, with over two million rides taken per day on average on the buses of the two main public transport providers SBS Transit and SMRT Corporation...
, and decommissioned due to geographical retention or the introduction of new town centre
Town centre
The town centre is the term used to refer to the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town.Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus stations...
s, or creation of consolidated transportation hubs.
Woodlands
WoodlandsWoodlands, Singapore
Woodlands, or the Woodlands New Town , is a suburban town in northern Singapore, part of the North West Community Development Council district...
Bus Interchange was established to serve the developing northern corridor of Singapore in the early-80s, and was strategically located next to the Woodlands Checkpoint & Customs, the gateway to Johor, Malaysia. The bus interchange was based along Woodlands Centre Road, the former town centre of the then newly created Woodlands New Town. Woodlands had since grew to become one of the most prosperous new towns and her parent GRC, Sembawang GRC, became the largest single GRC in Singapore.
The announcement to build the North-South Line MRT extension and the Woodlands MRT Station
Woodlands MRT Station
Woodlands MRT Station ' is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit train station on the North South Line in Singapore. It is integrated together with the Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange located beneath the station and also Causeway Point Shopping Centre, which serves as a major shopping centre for...
that was scheduled to complete and open on 10 February 1996, accelerated plans to relocate and develop an entirely new town centre for Woodlands New Town at Woodlands Square, the new regional centre for Woodlands or more precisely, the entire Sembawang GRC. In late-1996, electronic display boards of TIBS buses serving the Woodlands Bus Interchange began to display notices that the TIBS Woodlands' fleet would be moving to the new interchange at Woodlands Square, Singapore's first mass underground bus interchange – Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange
Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange
Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange was completed and opened along with the Woodlands extension of the North South MRT Line in 1996. It is the first underground bus interchange, and one of the biggest in Singapore...
, conveniently located under the Woodlands MRT Station
Woodlands MRT Station
Woodlands MRT Station ' is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit train station on the North South Line in Singapore. It is integrated together with the Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange located beneath the station and also Causeway Point Shopping Centre, which serves as a major shopping centre for...
, and is connected to Causeway Point
Causeway Point
Causeway Point , is the seventh largest suburban shopping malls in Singapore, located in the town centre of Woodlands, a town in the north of Singapore...
Shopping Centre with escalators.
Hougang South
Bus station
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
, located in Hougang Street 21, which ceased operations on 13 February 2004. The interchange's structure continues to stand pending a major redevelopment of the site, and is currently called Kovan Hub. In the meantime, the vacated building is used to host exhibitions and for commercial purposes, and the bus lots as parking space.
The Hougang South Bus Interchange started operations as Hougang Bus Interchange, serving Hougang New Town. The new town, at that time was just four neighbourhoods, with large tracts to the northwest of Upper Serangoon Road still undeveloped. The commercial centre at Hougang Street 21 thus served as a town centre. From the 1990s, however, the town was rapidly expanded with five more neighbourhoods constructed, and a new, permanent town centre further north was built. As is the case for all other bus interchanges (except the Eunos Bus Interchange
Eunos Bus Interchange
Eunos Bus Interchange is a small bus interchange located in Eunos, Singapore. It is located and built just outside the Eunos MRT Station. It is surrounded by Eunos Rd 2, Eunos Ave 1 and Sims Avenue...
) in which they are located in their respective town centres, the Hougang Bus Interchange was to be moved to the new town centre, while the existing facility will be demolished.
When this plan was publicised, it created an uproar amongst the local populance, particularly shopowners in Hougang Street 21. With the help of local politicians, the protests were made to the relevant authorities, resulting in a delay in the interchange's closure. The government was adamant on removing the interchange, however, as it insists it makes little sense to have two bus interchanges in one town, and the opening of the Kovan MRT Station
Kovan MRT Station
Kovan MRT Station ' is an underground station on the North East Line of the Mass Rapid Transit in Singapore. The station is located in the southern part of Hougang New Town with a neighbourhood mall known as Heartland Mall, the former Hougang South Bus Interchange in its vicinity...
on the North East MRT Line
North East MRT Line
The North East MRT Line is the third Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore and the world's second longest fully underground, automated and driverless, rapid transit line after Singapore's Circle MRT Line. The line is 20 km long with 16 stations and operated by SBS Transit. Travelling from one end...
will help to continue bringing in the crowds. It proceeded to build a new, permanent interchange, known as the Hougang Central Bus Interchange
Hougang Central Bus Interchange
The Hougang Central Bus Interchange is a bus interchange serving the town of Hougang. It is located directly above the Hougang MRT Station and is operated by SBS Transit.-Redevelopment:...
, and renamed the existing interchange as the Hougang South Bus Interchange. Although it no longer operates as a bus interchange, locals can still alight and disembark there as a bus stop.
Kovan Hub also serves as a transit stop for coaches to and from Malaysia with popular destinations such as Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur, most of which are of the Super VIP type.
Jurong
Jurong Bus Interchange, after it ceased operations, functioned as a bus depot in the Western part of Singapore before it was demolished when SBS Transit built a new multi storey bus depot along Soon Lee Road in the Jurong Industrial Area.Marine Parade
Marine Parade Bus Terminal was a bus terminal serving Marine ParadeMarine Parade
Marine Parade is a town and an urban planning area in Singapore directly to the east of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.-Location:...
and East Coast areas. However it was not well utilized as many prefer to board buses more conveniently along Marine Parade Road instead. When the site was slated as the new site of Victoria School
Victoria School
Victoria School in Singapore is a government secondary school for boys, founded in 1876, at Siglap Link, about one kilometre from affiliated Victoria Junior College....
, the terminal was demolished to make way. Most services that used to terminate currently have to make a loop around the school site. Service 13 and 853C were extended to the then newly opened Upper East Coast Terminal
Upper East Coast Bus Terminal
Upper East Coast Terminal is a bus station located in Upper East Coast at the eastern part of Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit and SMRT Buses.-Routes:Bus Routes in Singapore-Berths:...
. Service 196 was extended to Bedok Bus Interchange
Bedok Bus Interchange
Bedok Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Bedok New Town in Singapore. The bus interchange was completed in the 1980s, and is centrally located, just north of the Bedok MRT Station. The interchange, with the allocated block number of 207A, is located near a food center and a community...
. In 2007, service 16 had also relocated to Bedok Bus Interchange
Bedok Bus Interchange
Bedok Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Bedok New Town in Singapore. The bus interchange was completed in the 1980s, and is centrally located, just north of the Bedok MRT Station. The interchange, with the allocated block number of 207A, is located near a food center and a community...
instead of its normal loop to Bukit Merah Bus Interchange
Bukit Merah Bus Interchange
The Bukit Merah Bus Interchange serves the and the interchange is located at Jalan Bukit Merah.-Routes:Bus Routes in Singapore-Berths:...
Before the Terminal shifted to its former site in the 1980s, it was located at Marine Terrace within the Marine Parade housing estate. There were services 15, 16 and 211. Service 15 evolved into the current service 196, service 16 remains today with some changes, while service 211 was a feeder service to Katong which was withdrawn in the early 1980s.
Marsiling
Marsiling Bus Terminal was the original bus terminal serving the entire north of Singapore, which was predominantly undeveloped and neglected in the course of developing the country's suburb throughout the 1960s-1980s. Development of this area started to sprout when former-Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan became the MP for Sembawang, and pledged to develop Sembawang into a prosperous suburb. This allowed for the creation of the Woodlands New Town and the entire extension of Woodlands from the original old town centre at Woodlands Centre Road and the integration of Marsiling, a small estate of only around 20 4-storeys HDB blocks, into the new town.Woodlands New Town was speedily developing in the mid-80s and first plans to build an entirely new bus interchange to replace the relatively small Marsiling Bus Terminal surfaces after Woodlands become part of the new Sembawang GRC in 1988. By mid-90s, the Woodlands Bus Interchange based at Woodlands Centre Road was fully functional. Marsiling Bus Terminal continued operations with services 950, 951, 952 - with 950 plying the route to Shenton Way, 951 to Boon Lay and 952 to Marina Centre, were periodically moved to the new bus interchange. The closure of the bus terminal comes as TIBS axed the 95x services, in favour of the new 96x services that served the downtown city areas.
Sin Ming Road
Sin Ming Road Bus Terminal was a bus terminal located along Sin Ming Road in Bishan New Town, SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. A victim of rapid urban development and shifting demographies, it was relegated from the main terminal serving the Sin Ming and Upper Thomson area, until the development of Bishan resulted in a reconfiguration of the urban makeup and shifted the population towards the east, where the Bishan Bus Interchange
Bishan Bus Interchange
Bishan Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Bishan New Town in Singapore. The interchange commenced passenger service as Bishan Bus Terminal in 1988, serving 2 SBS services: 56 and 58. Located at Bishan Street 13, it is designed in a unique squarish configuration with the building wrapping...
was built in the new town centre. Service 130, the only service operated by Singapore Bus Services which used to terminate at this terminal was amended to call at Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange
Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange
Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 Bus Interchange is located in Ang Mo Kio Town Centre, Singapore. The interchange is presently within AMK Hub, a newly-built shopping centre which is in turn linked to the Ang Mo Kio MRT Station via a pedestrian underpass below Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.The interchange is the third to be...
instead. The terminal was then handed over to the management of TIBS Holdings
TIBS Holdings
Trans-Island Bus Services was formerly a public transport operator in Singapore, incorporated on 31 May 1982 by a firm of Singapore Shuttle Bus as a second full-day run bus service, following public transportation market liberalisation reform approved by parliament, which thereafter proposed the...
, which operates SSB's CSS 605 to the terminal.
However, when the terminal was under the management of SSB, SBS introduced a new feeder Service 353 (Sin Ming Rd - Bishan St 31) in 1988 to ply from Sin Ming Rd to the new satellite town of Bishan. In 1989, the service was re-routed to start from Bishan Bus Interchange and was renumbered as Service 57 and withdrawn subsequently.
The terminal was one of the few surviving terminals of the 1970s era in which it was common for terminals to built along the road side with only a small booth for drivers to report to when completing their runs.
Somapah
Somapah Bus Terminal was a bus terminal located near the present Singapore Expo Hall 7Singapore Expo
The Singapore EXPO is the largest convention and exhibition venue in Singapore with over 100,000 square metres of column-free, indoor space spread over 10 halls...
carpark, at the junction of Upper Changi Road East and Simei Road. It was opened as Somapah Bus Interchange in 1982 and closed in 1989.
The terminal was originally a bus maintenance and refuelling depot owned by the then Associated Bus Company that ran two services, numbered 1 and 2, from Changi Point
Changi Village Bus Terminal
Changi Village Bus Terminal is a bus station located in Changi Village, Singapore.The bus station comprises a small queue area for the buses services, similar to a bus stop, opposite the bus park, all passengers also alight at the queue area too...
to the city.
Currently it is being used as a temporary storage depot for construction equipment and materials for the rapidly developing Changi Business Park, which was once Somapah Village.
Others
- Admiralty Road West: relocated to Sembawang Bus InterchangeSembawang Bus InterchangeSembawang Bus Interchange is a bus station located in Sembawang, Singapore. Opened on 20 November 2005, it provides hassle-free transfer to the nearby Sembawang MRT Station....
- Bukit Panjang: relocated to Bukit Panjang Bus InterchangeBukit Panjang Bus InterchangeThe Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange is a bus interchange serving Bukit Panjang New Town, Singapore. It is opposite Bukit Panjang Plaza. The nearest station is the Bukit Panjang LRT Station....
- Chai Chee: relocated to Bedok Bus InterchangeBedok Bus InterchangeBedok Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Bedok New Town in Singapore. The bus interchange was completed in the 1980s, and is centrally located, just north of the Bedok MRT Station. The interchange, with the allocated block number of 207A, is located near a food center and a community...
in 1985. - Commonwealth Drive
- Crawford Street: relocated to Geylang Lorong 1 Bus Terminal in 1998.
- Delta Road
- Jalan Eunos
- Jalan Kayu: The main bus bay was closed and demolished in 2003.
- Labrador
- Lim Chu Kang Road End
- MacPherson
- NTI
- Old Upper Thomson: converted to public car park
- Potong Pasir
- Prince Edward Road
- Princess Elizabeth
- Punggol Road End: converted to a bus stop
- Redhill Close
- Rumah Tinggi
- Sembawang (Sembawang Road; junction of Mandai Road)
- Sembawang Road End: relocated to Sembawang Bus InterchangeSembawang Bus InterchangeSembawang Bus Interchange is a bus station located in Sembawang, Singapore. Opened on 20 November 2005, it provides hassle-free transfer to the nearby Sembawang MRT Station....
- Sengkang: relocated to Sengkang Bus InterchangeSengkang Bus InterchangeSengkang Bus Interchange is a bus interchange located on the ground storey of Compass Heights condominium in the town centre of Sengkang New Town. Located next to Sengkang MRT/LRT Station...
- Serangoon Gardens: relocated to Serangoon Bus InterchangeSerangoon Bus InterchangeSerangoon Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Serangoon New Town in Singapore, and is within walking distance from Serangoon MRT Station. Opened on 3 September 2011 and operated by SBS Transit, it is the smallest air-conditioned bus interchange in Singapore with 8 services and 17 bus bays...
in 1987. - Singapore Zoological Gardens: converted to a bus stop
- South Canal
- Tampines Avenue 5: relocated to Tampines Bus InterchangeTampines Bus InterchangeTampines Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Tampines New Town in Singapore. It is an open-air building located in the town centre near the Tampines MRT Station, with the allocated block number of 512. The interchange is operated by SBS Transit...
in 1987. - Teban Gardens (old Jurong Depot, Penjuru Road)
- Tuas (Pioneer Road)
- Ulu Pandan: converted to Seafood Restaurant, original layout retained in 1988.
- Upper Changi
- Upper Serangoon Road End: relocated to Hougang Central Bus InterchangeHougang Central Bus InterchangeThe Hougang Central Bus Interchange is a bus interchange serving the town of Hougang. It is located directly above the Hougang MRT Station and is operated by SBS Transit.-Redevelopment:...
in 1994.
Integrated Transport Hubs
This idea was first conceived of in the 1990s by the Urban Redevelopment AuthorityUrban Redevelopment Authority
The Urban Redevelopment Authority is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Singapore Government.-Mission:The authority was established on 1 April 1974, and is of especially critical importance to the city-state,...
. An integrated transport hub encompasses an air-conditioned bus interchange, a shopping mall and a MRT/LRT station which is either located inside the building if it is underground or adjacent to it if it is elevated. There are currently six such hubs, namely, the HDB Hub, Compass Point Shopping Centre
Compass Point Shopping Centre
Compass Point is a suburban shopping mall located in the town centre of Sengkang New Town, Singapore.-History:Compass Point was built as an integrated development together with the adjacent Sengkang MRT Station and Compass Heights condominium. Constructed at a cost of S$230 million, the shopping...
, Ang Mo Kio Hub, Jurong Point Shopping Mall
Jurong Point Shopping Mall
Jurong Point is a suburban shopping mall located in Jurong West, Singapore. It is situated next to Boon Lay MRT Station and Boon Lay Bus Interchange...
, nex
Nex
Nex is a suburban shopping mall in Serangoon, within the North-East Region of Singapore. The largest mall in the Northeast region and one of the largest suburban malls in the country, it has an integrated air-conditioned Serangoon Bus Interchange, the fifth bus interchange in Singapore which is...
and Clementi Mall
Clementi Mall
Clementi Mall Clementi Mall Clementi Mall (Chinese 金文泰广场）is a shopping mall in Singapore, serving the Clementi New Town, Dover Estate and Bukit Timah residents. It is a five-story mall with 290,000 square feet of retail space. It opened for business in January 2011, with the grand official opening...
. Transport Minister Raymond Lim said in a speech on 18 January 2008 that by 2018, five more such hubs will be constructed in Bedok
Bedok
Bedok is a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Singapore. Bedok New Town is the fifth Housing and Development Board new town; its development started in April 1973 and continued over some 15 years....
, Jurong East
Jurong East
Jurong East is a neighbourhood in Singapore, bounded by the Pan Island Expressway, a canal and the shoreline of Jurong Lake, Jurong Town Hall Road, the eastern side of Jurong Gardens, Ayer Rajah Expressway, Penjuru Road, West Coast Road, Sungei Pandan and back to the Pan Island Expressway.It is...
, Bishan
Bishan
Bishan is a neighbourhood of the city-state of Singapore situated in the Central Region, measuring approximately three by three kilometres. Primarily a housing estate, Flats here are generally more expensive compared to other estates due to its location in the central region, which commands a...
, Joo Koon
Joo Koon
Joo Koon is an industrial area in the western region of Singapore. Joo Koon is served by the Joo Koon MRT Station, which is the end point of the East West MRT Line...
, and Marina South
Marina South
Marina South is a peninsula adjacent to the Central Business District in Singapore, and also the name of an urban planning area in the Central Area of Singapore's Central Region.-History:...
to keep up with the developments in the surrounding areas.