Singapore Expats

So is it just me or are the bus drivers in Singapore the worst in the world?
Not one of them seem to understand the concept of gradually stepping on the gas or brake pedal. They only know how to stomp on it.

If you're standing, you will FLY if you forget to hold onto something solid, even for just 3 seconds.

It's like they just hire anyone that just walks into their hiring office. Oh wait, they do.

I am not exactly a frequent user of the buses but did not get such impression. Stopping/accelerating habits average and most of the time acceptable. Courtesy for people at the bus stop, better than average. Driving culture and technique, objectively average but one of the best in Singapore. All the above IMHO of course.

@OP, have you never taken a bus in Southeast Asia outside of Singapore?!?

I also find that the majority of bus drivers here are quite okay. The problem is normally caused by automobile drivers who break the laws by using the bus lanes cutting off the buses and otherwise causing a non smooth journey. However, that is why they provide grab rails, poles and hanging straps so that people have a way to steady themselves. Common sense dictates that one uses them. Or not, at their own risk. They put them there for a reason. I believe it's called stop and go traffic?

sundaymorningstaple wrote:. However, that is why they provide grab rails, poles and hanging straps so that people have a way to steady themselves. Common sense dictates that one uses them. Or not, at their own risk. They put them there for a reason. I believe it's called stop and go traffic?

Wow, really? And all this time, I've been using my ninja skills to keep my feet stuck on the floor and keep myself from falling or something.

gl456 wrote:So is it just me or are the bus drivers in Singapore the worst in the world?
Not one of them seem to understand the concept of gradually stepping on the gas or brake pedal. They only know how to stomp on it.

If you're standing, you will FLY if you forget to hold onto something solid, even for just 3 seconds.

It's like they just hire anyone that just walks into their hiring office. Oh wait, they do.

Not even close to being the worst.
My vote would go to Rio.

nakatago wrote:@OP, have you never taken a bus in Southeast Asia outside of Singapore?!?

@gl 456 -Go to Philippines and see who is worst, Sing driver or Pinoy drivers.....

I have one hellish bus ride on one of my holiday in the PI.
Me and my companion flagged down a bus, he stopped to pick us up only to drive suddenly leaving my companion behind. The reason police was on its tail because they are picking up passenger in an illegal spot..

Bus stops in the Philippines is not as GRAND as bus stops here in SG, and more often bus driver pick up passenger where the passenger are and not where the bus stop is...

At least that helps. Keeps the would be passenger from having a heart attack trying to run to the bus stop to catch a bus before it takes off.
So see, there's a plus side to that.

ex-pat wrote:

nakatago wrote:@OP, have you never taken a bus in Southeast Asia outside of Singapore?!?

@gl 456 -Go to Philippines and see who is worst, Sing driver or Pinoy drivers.....

I have one hellish bus ride on one of my holiday in the PI.
Me and my companion flagged down a bus, he stopped to pick us up only to drive suddenly leaving my companion behind. The reason police was on its tail because they are picking up passenger in an illegal spot..

Bus stops in the Philippines is not as GRAND as bus stops here in SG, and more often bus driver pick up passenger where the passenger are and not where the bus stop is...

There are no bus stops in the Philippines. Those are shelters for rain or the sun and where street vendors can hawk their wares.

but so true!

Seems to me sometimes that in average SMRT drivers are a bit more on the racing car side than the SBS ones...


But all in all they are a model of smooth driving comparing to HK ( where it is said than bus driver is the dream job of wanna be race car drivers due to lack of racing circuit on the island )

Worst in the world? Until I've travelled on a bus in every country in the world as you seem to have done, I can't really comment about that, but I have been on buses in Thailand and Greece and they were worse than here, so no, Singaporean bus drivers are not the worst in the world going by that

As for the sudden stopping - they do more of that when they've got people standing I've noticed (especially crowds of noisy schoolkids) and before now I've noticed the occasional driver actually looking in the mirror as he stomped on the brakes and having a little chuckle to himself.......but I think that's because the noise of the constant ding-dong of the bell ringing makes them go a bit bonkers after a while.

But seriously, there were complaints when they first got the new buses because the brakes were more sensitive and plenty of people wrote to and phoned SBS moaning about that so they know it's an issue - why don't you do the same if you've got a problem with it?

However, I'm with SMS on this one - most of the time it is stupid car drivers who cause the bus drivers to have to brake suddenly because they dive in front of them, or taxi drivers who see a fare and jump on their own brakes causing a knock on effect. And how many times have you seen people pull into the bus bay to drop someone off, make a delivery or pick someone up...........I travel on the buses a lot and I have some sympathy for those drivers, it's not a great job.

I've also witnessed plenty of people who've been running for a bus, the driver has started to pull away and seen them so they've stopped to wait and the person gets on the bus and doesn't even look the driver in the eye, let alone utter a "thank you" to them - I'm not really surprised that some of them take their frustrations out on the gas pedal.

nakatago wrote:

ex-pat wrote:

nakatago wrote:@OP, have you never taken a bus in Southeast Asia outside of Singapore?!?

@gl 456 -Go to Philippines and see who is worst, Sing driver or Pinoy drivers.....

I have one hellish bus ride on one of my holiday in the PI.
Me and my companion flagged down a bus, he stopped to pick us up only to drive suddenly leaving my companion behind. The reason police was on its tail because they are picking up passenger in an illegal spot..

Bus stops in the Philippines is not as GRAND as bus stops here in SG, and more often bus driver pick up passenger where the passenger are and not where the bus stop is...

There are no bus stops in the Philippines. Those are shelters for rain or the sun and where street vendors can hawk their wares.

I mistook those shelter as bus stops LOL ....

I should have clarified. I meant the "worst bus drivers in the first world".

Oops...I guess i should have stated "worst bus drivers amongst countries that try to pass themselves off as first world" if I want to include Singapore. Sorry for the confusion.

gl456 wrote:I should have clarified. I meant the "worst bus drivers in the first world".

Oops...I guess i should have stated "worst bus drivers amongst countries that try to pass themselves off as first world" if I want to include Singapore. Sorry for the confusion.

The answer is still, "it's just you." They are not the worst in the world by any measure.