By Joanna Seow

YOU see a bright red or purple Youth Olympic Games(YOG) bus behind you.

So must you give way?

Since last month, YOG buses have been appearing on our roads, and some people are complaining about having to yield to them.

They are also complaining about the bus lanes allocated to YOG vehicles.

One netizen posted a photo of one such bus ferrying what looked like shoppers to Parkway Parade on SPH's citizen journalism website Stomp last month.

The netizen was willing to give way if the bus was carrying VIPs or participants for the sports events, but added: "If the bus is actually used to carry shoppers to Parkway Parade, I would not give way.

"I think they misused the bus in this case. The YOG bus should be used solely for YOG purpose(s)."

There may be a misunderstanding about the YOG buses, said Lieutenant Colonel Lau Hui Boon, chairman of bus operations at the transport services division for the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee.

He explained that people don't have to give way to the YOG buses unless three conditions are met:

- The YOG licence plate must be on the bus

- Blinker lights at the front of the bus must be switched on

- The bus must be in the YOG lane

In the case of the Stomp photo, the bus did not have the YOG licence plate or the blinker lights on. So it should have been treated as a regular shuttle bus.

He said some buses have been wrapped with the YOG livery, but are currently being used as normal shuttle buses since the YOG has not started yet.

But once the games begin, the buses will ferry athletes.

The red ones are to operate from the city transport mall at Marina Bay Sands, and the purple ones from the Youth Olympic Village transport mall.