LTA rewards safe bus captains as AI-powered monitoring system expands across Singapore

SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Ministry of Transport have recognised outstanding public transport workers at the fifth annual Public Transport Safety and Security Awards ceremony held at One Punggol on August 21, 2026, with the inaugural Bus Captain Safe Driving Award honouring 5,364 bus captains for maintaining safe driving records since the introduction of the Bus Contracting Model in 2016.

The awards ceremony and a two-day Bus Safety Roadshow running from Aug 21 to 22 brought together public transport workers, operators, and members of the public to celebrate safety excellence and raise bus safety awareness.

The new Safe Driving Award

Introduced as part of the Bus Safety Tripartite Taskforce’s (BSTT) recommendations, the Bus Captain Safe Driving Award recognises bus captains across four tenure tiers. Of the 5,364 honoured, 1,735 are in the one-year category, 1,710 in the two-year category, 1,081 in the five-year category, and 838 in the ten-year category.

Recipients receive a safe driving badge and monetary incentives ranging from S$200 to S$2,000, with higher amounts for longer periods of safe driving. Fifteen and twenty-year categories will be introduced in subsequent years.

This year’s ceremony also saw family members of award recipients invited for the first time, in recognition of the support they provide to public transport workers.

Other award recipients

Sixty individuals received the Special Commendation Award for swift and decisive action in averting potential safety or security incidents. A further 190 individuals received the Star Award for developing new tools, systems, and processes to enhance public transport safety and security.

Five transport operators received category awards, with the best performers in rail, bus, and point-to-point transport having their names inscribed on a Challenge Shield. Seventy-one Safety Champions were also appointed from across the public transport and point-to-point sector.

Progress on bus safety measures

LTA reported significant progress on BSTT recommendations. As of July 2026, 99% of bus captains have completed the “Bus Captain Drive Safe” refresher programme, with full completion expected by October 2026. Ten of 54 long bus routes with runtimes exceeding two hours have been reviewed and improved through measures including mid-route driver swaps and conversion of loop services to bi-directional routes. These changes are aimed at reducing driver fatigue.

Audio safety announcements reminding passengers to hold on before the bus moves have been piloted on 11 bus services since August 2025 and will be progressively rolled out fleet-wide from end-2027 alongside the Bus Fleet Management System upgrade.

Additionally, the LTA has successfully completed trials of an AI-powered video analytics system using cameras already onboard buses, achieving an average accuracy of 90% across tested scenarios. The system can detect motorists encroaching into bus lanes, illegal parking along roads, road infrastructure defects, and non-compliant road works.

Progressive deployment will begin in Q4 2026, with expansion to all bus routes by 2030.

The Bus Safety Roadshow

The roadshow was jointly organised by LTA and the Ministry of Transport and supported by Traffic Police, the Singapore Road Safety Council, the National Transport Workers’ Union, and all four bus operators.

It featured exhibition booths, safety tips for passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists, and interactive simulators offering members of the public a chance to experience the challenges of driving a bus.

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