BUCKLING up in school minibuses will become law soon.
And the Government is giving $35 million to school-bus operators to help defray the costs of installing such safety devices.
At a media briefing yesterday, Senior Minister of State (Finance and Transport) Lim Hwee Hua outlined the changes.
Small-bus owners who ferry school children have to install forward-facing seats with retractable three-point shoulder belts by 2011. Currently, seats are positioned both forward-facing and sideways-facing.
Other minibus owners have to comply by 2013.
The Government will provide owners with $4,000 to fit vehicles with these seat belts.
Bus owners who transport children under eight years old will receive another $1,000 to install booster seats.
About 1,200 small buses that carry school children will be affected first, out of 6,400 such vehicles plying the roads.
Typically, a mini or small bus has 10 to 15 seats and weighs up to 3,500kg.
Once the new regulations are in place, minibuses can ferry only up to 10 students.
The reduced passenger load means that school-bus fares are likely to go up.
Operators like the Singapore School Transport Association - which has 700 small-bus drivers among its members - are most affected by the new measures.
While small-bus owner Ben Tan, 40, welcomed the financial subsidy, he felt it was a "temporary solution".
He told my paper: "There are long-term problems such as loss of income. High fuel costs and rocketing insurance premiums are also affecting our business."
Association chairman Wong Ann Lin added that drivers would have to look for other sources of income, such as ferrying more workers on late shifts or increasing students' current bus fares.
Assistant manager Doreen Pang, 33, pays $120 every month to ensure that her five-year-old twins are dropped off at her in-laws' home after school.
Said Mrs Pang: "It is reasonable for bus operators to charge 10 to 20 per cent more after they have installed the seat belts."
But a 50-per-cent increase, like what some operators are suggesting, "is too much".
Asked what measures the Government would take to help families affected by the school bus-fare increases, Mrs Lim suggested that they "approach the schools or go to grassroots organisations like Citizens' Consultative Committees for financial assistance".
By Tony Ng, AsiaOne
The Government has announced that all new and existing school buses are to be installed with forward-facing seats and seatbelts. It will also hand out $35 million to mini bus operators.
The money will go towards defraying costs for the bus drivers, who face a potential decrease in revenue as school buses will be able to ferry less school children.
Some 6,400 existing small buses, of which 1,200 are known to carry school children, will be affected. Mini school buses have until 2011 to comply with the new regulations while small buses used for other purposes have up to end 2013 to comply.
With effect from Apri 1, 2009, all newly registered small buses must be installed with forward-facing seats and seatbelts.
