SINGAPORE — More than a month after it took in short-term contract hires from fellow bus operators to cope with a shortage of bus drivers, Go-Ahead Singapore has stemmed its employee attrition, with fewer bus drivers leaving last month than in September.
It lost 13 drivers in October, compared with 31 in September, a Go-Ahead spokesperson told TODAY in response to queries.
The largest bus operator in London, Go-Ahead netted the second contract under the Singapore Government’s bus-contracting model last year to run 25 services in areas including Changi, Pasir Ris and Punggol.
The firm, which has 740 drivers, has hired more than 80 bus drivers since its first buses hit the roads on Sept 4.
Then, just a little over a fortnight into operations in September, it announced that it was taking on bus drivers from SBS Transit and SMRT on short-term contracts after some of its own quit.
Their abrupt departure was blamed on difficulties adjusting to the operator’s “interlining” model, which requires bus drivers to ply a number of different routes during the week, instead of a single one.
The firm said previously that it would scale back this “interlining” model to address the turnover. It also pressed on with recruitment.
In the interim, it also had to get help from operator Tower Transit to supply a bus service for its employees at Loyang Bus Depot.
This arrangement has since ceased, and Go-Ahead has resumed running its own bus service for employees since Oct 16, its spokesperson said.
When asked if it would extend its short-term arrangements with SBS Transit and SMRT, the spokesperson would only say that it would provide an update “in due course”.
Commenting on the manpower situation, Mr David Cutts, deputy chairman of Go-Ahead Singapore, said that the operator has steadily reduced its driver shortage since mid-September, and the turnover was “at a level normally seen in the public bus industry”.
He added: “We will continue to work hard to improve our bus services in the months ahead and are committed to providing commuters with the best possible level of service.”
