While more than half of public bus drivers in Singapore in 2021 were Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs), they made up just four in 10 of the pool of such drivers last year.
To attract more locals to sign up as bus captains — including mid-career entrants — the Government will fund a rise in their starting salaries by $450 a month, and the first-year of sign-on bonuses by $2,000 from January next year.
"With higher starting salaries and higher sign-on bonuses, most local bus captains can earn $600 more per month in their first year of service, effectively increasing the average monthly salaries to more than $4,000," said the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU), and the four public bus operators in a joint statement on Wednesday (June 3).
Meanwhile, all current bus captains will also receive a one-time salary adjustment under a collective agreement between the NTWU and the the operators — SBS Transit, SMRT, Go-Ahead Singapore, and Tower Transit.
The move is to "manage wage relativity, improve retention and recognise the contributions of in-service bus captains", said the tripartite partners in the statement.
The Goverment's move to raise the starting salaries of local public bus drivers comes as the LTA's Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme expands services, especially in newer estates located further away from MRT stations. Since its launch in July 2024, connectivity has been enhanced with 33 new or extended routes, and improvements to over 60 existing services.
"To deliver these enhancements and sustain these essential public bus services, we require a strong pipeline of bus captains," said the tripartite partners.
"However, we recognise that bus captains have a challenging job, with shift work being the norm, and the pressures of ferrying passengers safely and punctually through busy roads. It is therefore challenging to attract and retain new bus captains."
The Government, union and operators also noted that the bus captain workforce is ageing; for every local recruitment, two drivers resign or retire.
And the proportion of local bus captains last year was just 41 per cent, down from 54 per cent in 2021.
The joint statement added that to improve the attractiveness of driving public buses as a career, the operators will look at reducing split-shift assignments and shortening continuous driving time on long routes.
Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said: "As we work to expand and improve bus services, we must also support the people who keep them running. This reflects our commitment to take care of our public transport workers, so that they can continue serving our commuters well."
NTWU's executive secretary Yeo Wan Ling said: "As the workforce ages, it is important that we continue attracting younger Singaporeans to the sector and ensure that being a bus captain remains a meaningful career with opportunities for skills development and progression.
"NTWU will continue working closely with tripartite partners to ensure that our public transport workers are fairly rewarded, well-supported, and able to build meaningful and sustainable careers."
Replying to queries from AsiaOne, an LTA spokesperson said that as of March this year, there were some 9,900 deployable public bus drivers in total.
The spokesperson noted the rise in rate of local attrition, despite bus operators having adjusted starting salaries of drivers over the years — from about $2,000 in 2012 to about $3,600 today.
On determining the rise in local bus captains' salaries, the LTA spokesperson said total monthly salaries were benchmarked against national wage data and comparable roles in other local industries.
"Based on relevant benchmarks, we assessed the compensation levels needed to attract and retain locals, including mid-career entrants who may currently earn higher salaries."
As for whether the higher salaries would result in fare hikes, the spokesperson pointed out that fare increases are decided by the Public Transport Council, based on a fare adjustment formula consisting of macroeconomic indicators such as core inflation and fixed components such as Capacity Adjustment Factor. "The salary adjustments for bus captains is not part of the fare adjustment formula."
Asked about the total estimated cost of the initiative, the LTA spokesperson said this will depend on the number of new local bus captains. "The funding will be calibrated based on the needs of the industry over time."
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laili.abdeen@asiaone.com