LACK OF DEMAND, HIGH COSTS
The costs of running a bus service are high, and providing school bus services rarely covers them, said the industry players.
It is the supplementary income from transporting workers and tourists that keeps the school bus business “viable”, said Mr Adrian Yeap, CEO of bus company Yeap Transport.
“No school bus operator can survive on just school bus fare in Singapore,” he told CNA’s podcast Heart of The Matter.
Previously, school bus operators had pupils in the morning session and the afternoon session to cater to, but things changed after the move to a single session in 2000.
“The price did not catch up,” said Mr Yeap.
For instance, if it costs S$100 a day to run the service today, what he may earn from three trips may be S$30, he said.
To earn the remaining money just to break even, he will have to drive more, he noted.
“How many more hours do you want the school bus driver who’s responsible for the very life of your children at the back to drive?” he asked.
“The poor bus driver has to drive many hours in order to make ends meet,” he added.
EXPECTATIONS OF LOW FEES
The industry is also limited by parents’ perceptions on how much school bus services are worth, bus owners said.
“A lot of the parents have a mindset that they are willing to pay this much,” said Mr Darry Lim, spokesman from the Singapore School Transport Association.
Parents of children in local primary schools currently typically pay between S$110 and S$180 per month for nine months, he told Heart of The Matter.