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Public bus and bus interchange conduct rules in Singapore

Key commuter conduct offences on public buses and at bus interchanges, bus-captain response, and vehicle-driver duties inside interchanges under rules effective from 23 September 2026.

public-bus bus-interchange bus-captain commuter-conduct

Primary source: https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/BSIA2015-S661-2026

Singapore’s Bus Services Industry (Control of Conduct and Activities — Public Bus) Regulations 2026 and Bus Interchange Regulations 2026 came into operation on 23 September 2026. They create offences covering conduct on public buses and at bus interchanges, and set vehicle rules for interchange areas (Singapore Statutes Online, Public Bus Regulations 2026; Singapore Statutes Online, Bus Interchange Regulations 2026; LTA, New Regulations on Public Buses and at Bus Interchanges/Terminals).

Conduct on public buses

The Public Bus Regulations prohibit boarding when a bus is full as indicated by an onboard system or when an authorised person directs a passenger not to board or remain. They also prohibit eating or drinking (including chewing gum), littering or soiling the bus, nuisance or annoyance such as putting feet on seats or playing audio loudly enough to disturb other passengers, obstructing passenger movement, interfering with bus equipment, and conduct that disrupts bus operations or hinders the driver. The Regulations provide different maximum fines: examples include $500 for eating or causing nuisance, $5,000 for soiling the bus or obstructing bus operations, and $1,000 for touting or selling without permission (Singapore Statutes Online, Public Bus Regulations 2026, rr. 8–19; LTA, New Regulations on Public Buses and at Bus Interchanges/Terminals).

Directions and enforcement on buses

The Regulations define an “authorised person” for public buses to include an authorised LTA officer or employee, an employee of a bus operator authorised for enforcement, and a public-bus driver. A passenger must comply with reasonable directions from an authorised person given for safety or to deal with an emergency or unforeseen circumstances (Singapore Statutes Online, Public Bus Regulations 2026, rr. 2 and 19).

LTA states that bus captains are not empowered to issue Administrative Notifications of Offences (Administrative NOOs), so they can focus on safe bus operation. Under operators’ Conditions of Carriage, captains may tell passengers to stop disruptive behaviour and may require a non-compliant passenger to alight; they can seek help from the Bus Operations Control Centre or, in egregious cases, the Police. Separately, authorised operator staff such as ticket inspectors may issue Administrative NOOs, after which LTA investigates (LTA, New Regulations on Public Buses and at Bus Interchanges/Terminals).

MOT says staff were trained to enforce consistently and proportionately, with standard operating procedures and support from Bus Operations Control Centres. It reports that LTA receives around 15 reports per month of nuisance or disruptive behaviour onboard buses, and says new enforcement powers are intended as a last resort for egregious cases (MOT, Number of Reports of Nuisance and Disruptive Behaviour by Bus Commuters).

Drivers inside bus interchanges

A driver inside a bus interchange must obey traffic signs and signals and reasonable traffic-control directions from an authorised person. Driving a vehicle into or within an interchange at a speed or in a manner likely to endanger others is an offence with a maximum fine of $5,000; failing to obey interchange signs, signals or directions carries a maximum fine of $1,000 (Singapore Statutes Online, Bus Interchange Regulations 2026, rr. 19–20).

The Bus Interchange Regulations also contain separate provisions about leaving vehicles in an interchange and vehicle access to designated areas. Drivers should follow the signs and any directions at the particular interchange; the full conditions and exceptions are in the Regulations (Singapore Statutes Online, Bus Interchange Regulations 2026, rr. 18–21).

Coverage debt

  • The cited government releases do not publish the actual composition sums offered for individual offences under these Regulations; the figures above are statutory maximum fines, not composition amounts.
  • MOT’s reported monthly complaint figure is not broken down by offence type, route, or operator in the cited reply.

Sources