Public bus commuters must follow new 'conditions of carriage' or risk being asked to alight

SINGAPORE: Public bus drivers will soon have the authority to ask passengers to disembark if they do not adhere to newly introduced “conditions of carriage”. 

Taking effect on Mar 10, these conditions establish clear guidelines for commuter behaviour on public buses, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng announced on Wednesday (Mar 5). 

The areas of commuter behaviour set out in the conditions are: 

• Orderly and decent commuter conduct 
• Safe conduct
• Maintaining public health and cleanliness
• Ensuring gracious and inclusive public transport journeys

Speaking in parliament to detail the Ministry of Transport’s (MOT) spending for the year, Mr Baey said that the conditions will provide for a safe and comfortable experience for commuters and bus captains.

"It will set out what transport workers can do to alleviate situations with uncooperative commuters," he said.

"In egregious cases, bus captains can instruct disruptive commuters to alight from the bus, or if necessary, activate the police." 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement that the conditions were developed in consultation with the four public bus operators and the National Transport Workers Union. Further implementation details of the regulatory framework will be announced in the first half of 2026.

“LTA and the public transport operators will exercise discretion and fairness in managing inconsiderate commuters, especially for cases involving commuters with physical or mental health conditions,” it said. 

Mr Baey said that the use of loudspeakers on public transport is one of the nuisance behaviours that is being looked at. 

"We will consider the suggestion of using a decibel threshold to define disruptive noise," he said. 

LTA will also continue working with public transport operators to promote gracious commuting behaviour, while taking targeted enforcement action against inconsiderate commuters. 

Since December last year, LTA and public transport operators have introduced new signage on public transport reminding commuters to keep noise levels down, avoid sitting on the floor and occupy only one seat. 

Currently, when a bus driver encounters a commuter causing a nuisance – such as playing audio loudly on their phones – they will first advise the commuter to stop. If the commuter refuses, the driver will escalate the matter to the bus operations control centre for guidance. In severe cases, passengers may be asked to alight or referred to the police.

On the MRT network, commuters engaging in nuisance behaviour listed on these signs may be issued a notification of offence, with fines of up to S$500 per violation. More serious offences, such as soiling train premises, carry penalties of up to S$5,000, and transport operators may remove commuters or alert the police in more egregious cases. 

Since the roll-out of the new signage, LTA said it has worked with the public transport operators to increase patrolling and enforcement of such offences.

UPDATE TO BUS CONNECTIVITY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME

Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat gave an update to the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme, which was launched in July last year.

Mr Chee said that LTA plans to introduce another 15 more bus services in 2025 across different towns, including Punggol, Bidadari, Yew Tee and Tampines.

"As we deploy more buses, we will also give them priority on more roads to facilitate their movement and improve their reliability," he said. 

He added that LTA will add about 20km of new bus lanes this year, with more to come in the coming years.

So far, there have been 10 new services introduced and 36 services enhanced under the program to improve capacity and connectivity for residents in Yishun, Tengah, Hougang and Fernvale.

IMPROVING BUS SAFETY  

Alongside these behaviour guidelines, the government has also accepted a series of bus safety recommendations from a task force set up following a spate of public bus accidents, said Minister of State for Transport Murali Pillai. 

The Bus Safety Tripartite Taskforce, formed in July last year and chaired by Mr Murali, found that the number of serious bus collisions has remained stable over the past three years, with 191 in 2022, 200 in 2023 and 185 in 2024.

The number of accidents in which the bus driver was at fault was 85 in 2022, 99 in 2023 and 93 in 2024. 

To enhance public bus safety, the task force recommended implementing more supportive working conditions for bus drivers, improving the road environment and strengthening training for bus drivers.  

The specific measures recommended include: 

• Increasing bus drivers’ meal breaks from 25 to 30 minutes
• Capping new bus routes at two-hour durations to reduce driver fatigue
• Enhancing training programmes, such as the Bus Captain Drive Safe refresher programme, which reinforces safety protocols 
• Reviewing whether more bus lanes and priority boxes can be implemented at bus stops
• Introducing technology such as collision warning systems and camera mirror systems on buses 

MOT said in a statement that the government will work with transport operators and unions to implement the task force's recommendations. 

“At the same time, commuters and road users are also encouraged to do their part to support our bus captains, and help make our shared road spaces safer for all,” the ministry said.

More details on how the recommendations will be implemented will be provided in due course, said Mr Murali.