In trying to attract younger workers to drive its 45-seater charter buses, one private transport firm in Singapore decided last year that it needed to offer better financial incentives.

At the time, the average driver with Westpoint Transit was 60 years old. If it did not attract a younger generation of drivers into its team, the company risked the possibility of a manpower shortage when its current crop of drivers retire.

So, it revised its pay structure in 2023, raising its maximum starting pay for these drivers from around S$3,500 to S$5,000.

The move worked, its director of business development Lionel Lee told CNA TODAY. The average age dropped to 45, and at present, about 30 per cent of the drivers are below the age of 30.

In a different move, another private bus operator, A&S Transit, has turned to digital technology to boost the image of bus drivers as an occupation, among other initiatives.

This was meant to drum up interest in this form of transportation among younger jobseekers who might be thinking of a transportation career.

Earlier this year, A&S Transit collaborated with the team behind Singverse, a role-playing game on the online game platform Roblox, to recreate digital versions of its bus models in a virtual universe based on real roads in Singapore.

One of the features for players is to experience various A&S Transit jobs, including assuming the role of a bus driver.

Mr Dexter Ang, A&S Transit's marketing manager, said: “They can become almost like a real bus captain, providing a safe outlet where they can drive on the roads and on buses that they see and like in real life.”

During school holidays, the company also organises bus tours for the bus enthusiast community, hoping to generate awareness and interest among the younger generation.

The need for bus companies to transform their appeal to jobseekers is becoming urgent as the industry suffers from a constant shortage in manpower, which has caused operators numerous headaches in the past.

At the heart of it is the sector's ageing Singaporean workforce.

Many workers are nearing or have reached their retirement age, and there are few younger Singaporeans willing to take up the job, put off by what they perceive as tiring and dull work with long hours and low pay.

Operations manager Leo Baiming of DKJ Transport Service said: “The population is ageing. Among our Singaporean drivers, the youngest is 55. And most of them are around 70 years old. I really cannot see the future of this industry.”

For Mr Ang from A&S Transit, what needs to be done is to change the perception of bus driving as a “blue-collar” job, referring to someone who mainly does physical work and does not work in an office.  

His company believes that such a paradigm shift must begin at a young age, which is why his firm's initiatives are mainly geared towards encouraging the young to be private bus drivers without the baggage of old mindsets.

The shortage of drivers has already caused downstream problems to commuters who rely on these transportation methods to get around.

Last year, the pricing cap for school bus fees were raised by 7 per cent due to the rise in fuel and manpower costs, in what was said to be a one-time increase.

In that same year, a shortage of drivers pushed ComfortDelGro, one of the largest companies in the private bus services sector, to end its contracts with four primary schools.

In January this year, school bus fees were raised again by 13 per cent because of "continued rising cost pressures".

Operators were also compelled to merge routes, leading to longer travel times.

WHAT PUBLIC BUS SECTOR DID TO COPE

What private operators are facing now was the same problem disrupting the public transport sector a couple of years back, though public surveys still pointed to the high satisfaction levels among commuters.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the impact that a shortage of public bus drivers can cause, after several bus drivers contracted the disease and there was no one to replace them. As a result, some services had to be suspended.

Beyond the pandemic, another example is a reduction of a small number of trips for bus services 137 and 137A in Kaki Bukit last January, which led to "higher loading levels" in the buses. This was attributed to a manpower shortage as well.

Dr Raymond Ong from the National University of Singapore (NUS) said that the labour crunch is a perennial concern across both private and public sectors. He teaches transportation planning at the department of civil and environmental engineering.

“The current setup is very manpower-heavy. In general, there is always this shortage because we are facing an ageing population, and not many Singaporeans or young ones will step forward to be bus drivers," he added.

At SBS Transit, which runs the largest fleet of public buses, only about 6.5 per cent of its full-time drivers are below the age of 30.

And over at Tower Transit Singapore, these younger drivers comprise a mere 3 per cent of its current team. Foreign workers make up around 35 per cent of its crew.

Its spokesperson said: "We were faced with manpower shortages throughout (2024) and were only able to meet our operational needs in November (this year)."

Part of the issue is the growing number of routes needed to meet commuter demand.

In July this year, the Land Transport Authority introduced new bus services to improve connectivity to younger public housing estates such as Punggol, Tengah, Tampines and Yishun under its Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme.

Under this initiative, the capacity of certain bus services also had to be raised.

This means that the workforce has to expand to cater to these new routes and keep up with the goal to reduce waiting times for buses.

However, this demand cannot be met simply by hiring more foreign drivers.

The maximum quota for foreigners that public operators can employ is 35 per cent of its total workforce. This figure is the same for private transport operators, the Ministry of Transport said.

So, in an effort to draw more young people into the workforce, public bus companies has progressively enhanced its career scheme for bus drivers, including restructuring salary packages, benefits and performance incentives.

In line with promoting inclusivity, their drivers have also been provided with more training in helping passengers with disabilities, for instance.

The job title of "bus captains" being used on payroll and in publicity materials, which began more than a decade ago, remains to this day to reflect the job redesign.

SBS Transit's spokesperson Grace Wu said that the basic salary for bus drivers who are Singaporeans and permanent residents has increased by about 23 per cent compared to eight years ago.

From October, the company started to offer a sign-on bonus of S$20,000 – up from S$10,000 – as well as up to S$5,000 in training incentive. There is also S$1,000 for successful employee referrals.

“For mothers with children under the age of 13, we offer additional benefits to help defray childcare expenses,” Mrs Wu added.

At Tower Transit, the starting monthly pay is S$2,224 for entry-level Singaporean and permanent resident bus drivers. This is a jump of more than 15 per cent from 2016, its managing director Winston Toh said in a statement.

These drivers are also given the choice to sign up for a five-day work week – not the usual six – and they get to choose their preferred shifts.

Even though shift hours have not changed much, Tower Transit is offering better welfare benefits and career development opportunities for its employees, Mr Toh said.

He added that the company provides air-conditioned bunks and beds at the depots for its drivers to nap during their breaks.

There are fully equipped gyms at two depots in Bulim and Mandai and drivers get free monthly haircuts.

Such moves aims to improve welfare for the whole workforce and not just younger staff members, Tower Transit said.

In terms of career progression, it said that the drivers have the chance to move into supervisory and managerial roles.

Mr Toh gave an example of bus enthusiast Amir Hamzah, 29, who joined Tower Transit as a bus captain and was promoted to interchange supervisor after two months at the company.

"Four years later, he was again promoted to interchange manager and now oversees the Tengah Bus Interchange,” he said.

Similar career progression pathways are available among the other public transport operators. At Go-Ahead Singapore, bus captains can be promoted to chief bus captain and assume mentorship roles.

These Go-Ahead Singapore employees may also get to take up operational and corporate roles within the company.

As for SMRT, managing director Tan Peng Kuan for SMRT Buses said in a statement that the company allows those with leadership abilities to take on responsibilities in roster planning.

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