Task force set up to improve bus safety after spate of accidents

It includes representatives from government agencies and all four public bus operators

- Kok Yufeng and Sherlyn Sim

The safety of public buses here will be scrutinised by a task force that will be led by newly minted Minister of State for Transport Murali Pillai.

This comes on the heels of a spate of accidents involving public buses. In the most recent one on June 27, a 33-year-old Indian construction worker was hit while working as a traffic controller in Anson Road. He suffered fractures in his right leg.

The task force, comprising representatives from government agencies, the National Transport Workers' Union, all four public bus operators and the Singapore Road Safety Council, aims to complete its review by early 2025, said Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat on July 1.

The four operators are SBS Transit (SBST), SMRT Buses, Go-Ahead Singapore and Tower Transit Singapore. In all, they operate about 5,800 public buses.

Mr Chee said in a Facebook post that the review will identify ways for the bus industry to make further improvements, building on safety initiatives and practices put in place over the years.

He noted that the annual number of serious accidents involving public buses in Singapore has remained stable in the past few years. There were 75 such accidents in the first five months of 2024, compared with 207 in the whole of 2023 and 207 in the whole of 2022.