SINGAPOREANS looking for a job could consider driving a bus.
Bus companies are short of drivers, and the job might even pay more than being a cabby in these times, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
If the process to become a bus driver takes too long, the authorities could look at how to speed it up, he added.
He was responding to the general secretary of the National Transport Workers Union, Mr Fang Chin Poh, who had asked about attracting more people to take up public transport jobs and whether the time taken to train new drivers could be shortened.
Mr Lee said there would always be demand for public transport "because we're encouraging people not to take cars, but to take trains, to take buses".
So there will be a need for drivers. If the operators and bus companies had to pay a bit more to attract drivers, Mr Lee said, he would encourage them to do so. "It's necessary," he said.
Another issue raised yesterday was the drop in takings by taxi drivers. Mr Foo Chi Yong, chairman of the Premier Taxi Operators' Association, said there were now too many taxis and asked the authorities not to allow any more on the road.
Mr Lee said this would be up to the taxi companies. "I doubt very much any of them are in the mood to expand their business now. But that is supply and demand. If there's no business, I don't think they will want to grow," he said.
He noted that the incomes of cabbies had fallen from $200 a shift to $100 - and even less after subtracting the diesel cost.
While he hoped the taxi companies would pass on to cabbies the road tax rebates, he also urged the drivers themselves to take advantage of government funding to upgrade their skills.
Some had trained to be tour guides and to drive non-emergency ambulances, he noted. He also urged cabbies to keep up a voluntary savings programme that they started during the Sars crisis of 2003.
