Tan Kin Lian - Perspectives Improve the school bus system
Many families buy a car to bring their young children to school. 

They do not use the school bus because, in some cases, the bus takes a long journey from their home to the school. Their children have to wake up early to take the school bus. This could be more than one hour before the school starts. 

The school bus driver, who is a private operator, has to pay a high price to buy the school bus, as the COE price is unpredictable. The rental fee for the bus is similarly expensive and unpredictable. The operator also finds it difficult to employ workers to drive the school bus. Many operators give up this business due to the low profit margin.

The government has to address this issue. I give these suggestions:

1) Allow the operator to buy the school bus without COE. This will reduce the cost of the school bus. The school bus has a special marking and color scheme and has to be used only for school transport, and not for any other purpose.

2) Provide an specially designed app to allow parents to book for the school bus and the operator to accept the bookings. This will save the operator from the additional expense of buying the app from a commercial source. 

3) The operator is expected to be self employed and required to drive the school bus on his own, and is allowed to employ a relief driver for a limited number of days in a month. 

4) The school fees will be regulated and made affordable to the parents and still provide a good income to the driver. 

When this scheme operates efficiently, there is less need for parents to own a car for the purpose of bringing the children to the school. 

Tan Kin Lian

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