Supporting Bus Captains for Safer Public Buses

1.     The Bus Safety Tripartite Taskforce (“Taskforce”), led by Minister of State for Transport Mr Murali Pillai, has completed its review of the safety of public buses. Its recommendations, which focus on providing bus captains with better support, have been submitted to the Minister for Transport.

Background

2.     Formed in July 2024 to review ways to enhance public bus safety for commuters, bus captains and other road users, the Taskforce engaged more than 5,900 key stakeholders, through surveys with 2,300 members of the public, 3,400 bus captains, as well as in-person focus group discussions with over 200 bus captains, commuters and road users. The Taskforce also engaged local and international safety practitioners to learn from other fields and cities, to identify best practices which can be adopted for the Singapore public bus sector to further improve bus safety.

Review on the safety of public buses

3.     Based on its review of the latest safety outcomes and practices across the sector, the Taskforce concluded that Singapore’s public buses are generally safe. The annual number of serious collision accidents involving public buses has remained stable in the past few years. Nevertheless, through its engagements, the Taskforce has identified areas for improvement to continue to uphold and improve public bus safety standards. 

4.     The Taskforce’s recommendations focus on ensuring that bus captains are well-supported and best able to provide safer public bus rides, by equipping bus captains with the right tools and providing them with supportive working conditions.

A.     Equipping Bus Captains with the Right Tools

5.     To improve the tools and equipment used by bus captains to ensure bus safety, the Taskforce recommended:

i)     Additional technological systems and tools to further improve bus captains’ situational awareness. This involves fleetwide implementation of 360-degree collision warning systems with artificial intelligence assistance, anti-fatigue systems, as well as camera mirror systems, some of which have already been introduced on a trial basis or in newer buses.

ii)    New safety features to complement bus captains’ driving abilities and provide advance alerts on bus captains’ intentions. This includes software updates to improve torque management of public buses, safety announcements onboard buses and rear electronic display systems.

B.     Providing Bus Captains with Supportive Working Conditions

6.     To create a more conducive environment for bus captains to perform their roles safely and effectively, the Taskforce recommended improvements to (i) operational processes and practices, and (ii) the road environment.

Improving Operational Processes and Practices

7.     To further improve the working conditions and well-being of bus captains, the Taskforce recommended:

i)     Keeping new bus routes’ scheduled runtime to within two hours. The Taskforce noted that bus operators work with LTA to conduct regular reviews and adjust bus runtimes, to ensure that bus captains have sufficient time to complete their routes. However, longer journeys put heavy stress on bus captains, and are more likely to result in lapses in concentration while driving. The Taskforce recommended that LTA limit any new bus routes to a scheduled runtime of two hours or less. For existing bus routes with scheduled runtimes exceeding two hours, the Taskforce recommended that LTA and bus operators review these services and reduce the runtime where feasible, taking into account the potential impact on commuters.

ii)    Improving actual meal break durations for bus captains. The Taskforce recommended that bus operators work with LTA to optimise their operations to allow all bus captains to enjoy their full meal breaks in practice. Bus operators should also work towards increasing the scheduled meal break from a minimum of 25 minutes to 30 minutes, taking into consideration the impact on manpower and resource requirements.

8.     To increase the proficiency levels of bus captains, the Taskforce recommended enhancements to training programmes and systems:

i)     Industry-wide training point system. Currently, the training progress of individual bus captains is not evenly tracked across operators. To improve consistency of training standards across bus operators, the Taskforce recommended that a points-based training system be implemented across operators, where bus captains receive points for completing different training modules. This will ensure that all bus captains receive a baseline level of training each year.

ii)    Leverage the “BC Drive Safe” refresher programme. The Taskforce recommended that the Singapore Bus Academy conduct more runs of this programme, and for bus operators to schedule and register more bus captains to attend and benefit from this refresher programme.

iii)   More robust and personalised coaching programme. The Taskforce recommended that the Singapore Bus Academy create personalised training for bus captains who require additional training. The programme for each participant should be targeted at his or her specific competency gaps.

9.     The Taskforce also recommended that bus operators and LTA reward consistent safe driving by offering tiered safety incentives to bus captains, to recognise their record of accident-free mileage.

Improving the Road Environment

10.    With traffic returning to pre-COVID norms, bus captains have to contend with busier roads while still providing reliable travel times. To provide a more conducive road environment for bus captains to work in, the Taskforce recommended:

i)     More features to facilitate bus movement at more bus stops. Currently, about seven in 10 bus stops include features such as bus lanes and bus priority boxes to facilitate bus movement, and the Taskforce recommended that LTA review whether such measures can be provided at remaining bus stops. The Taskforce also recommended that larger-scale publicity efforts be carried out to improve other road users’ awareness of and compliance with measures to facilitate bus movement.

ii)    Improve management of road works. Currently, bus captains may face difficulties manoeuvring buses through affected roads due to improper barrier placement or inexperienced road marshals not providing proper instructions. The Taskforce recommended raising the penalty for contractors who do not comply with road works regulations. The Taskforce also recommended that LTA work with relevant agencies to upskill Authorised Security Officers to safely perform more complex traffic regulation duties around worksites.

Government Accepts the Taskforce’s Recommendations

11.    The Government accepts the recommendations of the Taskforce. The recommendations will help to ensure the continued safety of bus captains, commuters and other road users, and reinforce public confidence in the safety of our public buses.

12.    The Government will work with tripartite partners to implement the recommendations of the Taskforce. At the same time, commuters and road users are also encouraged to do their part to support our bus captains, and help make our shared road spaces safer for all.

The Bus Safety Tripartite Taskforce’s report is available at: Bus Tripartite Taskforce Report [PDF, 1.2 MB]