SINGAPORE: Transport authorities on Friday (May 6) unveiled a new manpower plan to attract and retain bus captains.

This includes new training programme and the opening of a new centralised bus academy from mid-2016. Other initiatives include SkillsFuture study awards for those in the bus industry, improved employment terms and workplace health programmes for bus captains.

Developed by the Public Transport Sectoral Tripartite committee, the new measures come as part of overall efforts to expand bus fleets and transform the image of the bus industry.

“Our immediate goal is to ramp up the pool of bus captains over the next five years to around 12,000,” said Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo, who heads the committee. “More importantly our aim is to transform the bus profession so that it is more attractive, skills- intensive and respected.”

Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo at the MOU signing between LTA and NTWU (Photo: Kenneth Lim)

The public bus industry currently employs around 9,200 bus captains, and Mrs Teo added that this is expected to increase by 30 per cent over the next five years.

Mrs Teo was speaking at an Memorandum of Understanding signing between the Land Transport Authority, the National Transport Workers’ Union, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and the Employment and Employability Institute  to establish the new Singapore Bus Academy (SGBA).

“SGBA will be a centralised institute to complement the training efforts of individual operators. It will pull together the best practices in the professional development of all employees in the public bus industry,” she said.

“The MOU signals our joint commitment towards the shared goal to improve professionalism of the Singaporean Core in the public bus industry through better training.”