Allowing Motorists with Class 3A Licences to be Trained and Licensed to Drive Buses with Automatic Transmission

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Home Affairs in view that Singapore’s public bus fleet has fully shifted to automatic transmission (a) whether the Road Traffic Rules can be amended to allow motorists with a Class 3A driving licence to undergo training to obtain a Class 4A driving licence; and (b) if so, when can such changes to the Road Traffic Rules take effect.

The Class 4A licence allows a person to drive public buses. Before a person can obtain a Class 4A licence, the person needs to have a Class 3 driving licence which allows the person to drive cars and small vans with either manual or automatic transmission. This has been the requirement because public bus fleets had consisted of a mix of buses with automatic and manual transmission.

As the Member has noted in the question, our public bus fleets have fully shifted to automatic transmission. The Traffic Police, or TP, will be changing the regulations such that both Class 3 and 3A licence holders may undergo training to obtain a Class 4A driving licence. We will provide an update when ready.

In the meantime, holders of Class 3A licence may appeal to TP through the Public Transport Operators, to allow them to undergo training to obtain a Class 4A driving licence. Between April 2019 and July 2021, TP approved 57 out of 60 such appeals; the remaining three appeals were rejected as the applicants had outstanding driving offences.