Licences for Private Bus Operators

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport whether the Ministry will (a) issue licences to other private operators to fill the gaps in the provision of bus services; and (b) review the bus routes operated by SMRT and SBS Transit to create intended competition on the same routes and improve efficiency.

The Public Transport Council regularly reviews the various schemes that licensed private bus operators to provide services that complement the public bus network. For instance, guidelines for Premium Bus Services were reviewed to encourage operators to provide more direct connections to work places. The Shuttle Bus Service scheme was also enhanced to make it easier for operators to run short routes to areas where basic bus services are unable to meet the needs of residents. Today, there are 90 Premium Bus Services run by 21 different licensees, and 83 Shuttle Bus Services run by 37 licensees. We will continue to review whether more and different types of non-basic public transport bus services can be implemented to better serve the needs of local communities.

Er Dr Lee also asked if we have plans to review the bus routes operated by the two public transport operators to create competition and improve efficiency. We will look into such issues in the longer term, but our immediate priority is to improve bus service levels and inject more buses and routes to improve capacity and connectivity, amongst others, through the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP).