Parents look for alternatives as school bus fares rise

For the past year, Mr Gerald Lim, 37, has been ferrying pupils to their primary schools in his Toyota Prius every weekday morning.

The full-time private-hire car driver is among 60 to 70 drivers engaged by Lylo, a Singapore car rental and concierge company, for its school transport service.

It costs between $20 and $50 per trip for every child, depending on distance and the type of vehicle used.

If there are other children living close enough requesting the service to the same school, the company can carpool them. This brings the price down to between $8 and $15 a trip for each child.

This means parents could spend anywhere between $160 and $300 a month for one-way carpooled trips for their children to or from school. The monthly fee is paid in advance, after the route and rate have been confirmed with Lylo.

In comparison, school bus services can cost up to $240 a month for a one-way trip of no more than 4km from the school. Those living farther will be charged more if the bus operator can accommodate them.

About 300 students have signed up for Lylo’s school transport service in 2025, the company’s spokesman told The Straits Times. Around 40 per cent of them are primary school pupils, with the rest being students from international schools.

As far as possible, the firm assigns the same driver for the trips. Parents are kept updated via messaging service WhatsApp when their child has been picked up or has reached their destination. Booster seats are available for children who are shorter than 1.35m.

The company started the service in 2023 with between 30 and 40 drivers ferrying fewer than 100 children.

Lylo’s spokesman said that besides promoting its services online, the company has been getting referrals through parents.

Aside from such services, parents are also turning to social media or online parent-support groups to seek out other ways to get their children to school, asking others with similar needs to share ride-hailing trips.

Some parents said they are doing this because they want better pick-up and drop-off times for their children than what school bus operators typically offer. For others, the school buses do not serve the area where they live.

This also comes as school bus fares are on the rise. Based on data from the Ministry of Education (MOE) published on data portal data.gov.sg in mid-December 2024, 34 out of about 180 primary schools have new school bus contracts in 2025.

The tenders for these contracts were called between August and September 2024.

ST’s checks found that the maximum price chargeable for at least 10 of those schools with new contracts in 2025 is higher than what it was in 2024. Some schools do not publish the contracted bus fares.

Depending on the school and the type of buses used, the maximum fare that an operator charges for a one-way trip of up to 2km from the school can cost between $68 and $210 per month.

At Yew Tee Primary School in Choa Chu Kang, the new operator, Chang Chen, will charge a monthly fee of up to $160 for a one-way trip for locations up to 2km from the school. This is 65.5 per cent higher than what it cost parents in 2024.

Leeng Transport Services, the previous bus company that served the school, said it did not take part in the latest tender, without elaborating.

School bus operators have cited challenges, including competition for bus drivers, the ageing profile of the drivers, and rising fuel costs.

Schools select operators through a competitive bidding process. The contracts are valid for two years, with an option for a further two-year extension.

The contracts stipulate the maximum allowable fares an operator can charge, based on the distance from the school.

Most of the published fares are for two distance categories – up to 2km, and between 2km and 4km – although there are contracts that include rates for longer distances. For locations beyond these distance categories, parents have to negotiate with the bus companies directly.

In 2023, MOE said school bus services serve the minority of primary school pupils, adding that about 98 per cent of Primary 1 pupils are either posted to a school of their choice or within 2km of their home.

Office administrator Jolene Chua, 44, said she chose to put her primary school-going daughter on the school bus, so that she is assured that the nine-year-old will be safe. The one-way trip from home to school costs her $140 monthly.

In 2024, her daughter started taking the public bus home on days when she has to stay behind for co-curricular activities. On other days, she takes a bus chartered by the student care centre where she receives after-school student care.

The Primary 3 pupil has been asking her parents if she can stop using the school bus in the mornings because she does not want to wake up so early, said Ms Chua. Although they live just over 2km from her school, the pupil is picked up before 6.20am – more than an hour before lessons start.

For now, Ms Chua plans to stick to the school bus service unless fares climb significantly.

Marketing executive Jasmine Sim, 43, spends $400 a month on school bus fares for her two primary school-going children, for the convenience.

She looked briefly into other transport arrangements in 2023 when she was dissatisfied with the dirty buses and late invoices from the school bus operator then. This was resolved in 2024 when the school appointed a new operator.

Ms Sim said: “For me, if the cost is comparable, I will consider alternative school transport options, given that it is more efficient and customisable.”