Up to 8,000 new public transport jobs will be created by 2030, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
This is part of the Land Transport Industry Transformation Map (ITM) launched by Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on 12 February 2018.
In a news release, LTA said that it will work closely with unions and industry partners on initiatives that support job growth.
They will look into industry manpower planning to identify employment opportunities and provide more “enhanced and structured” internships for students from institutes of higher learning.
To continue to develop the skills of public transport workers, the Singapore Bus Academy (SGBA) and Singapore Rail Academy will offer new programmes within the Public Transport Skills Framework (PTSF).
The framework will be launched in May this year and will be jointly developed by LTA, SkillsFuture Singapore and public transport operators.
Also, more Professional Conversion Programmes will be developed to help mid-career switchers carve a career in the industry.
Today, the rail and bus sectors boast a workforce of 21,000. In total, the land transport industry has about 123,000 workers. The number includes bus captains, mechanics, customer service officers, engineers as well as taxi and private hire drivers.
Funding for Research
The transformation map will also see LTA set aside $25 million over five years for the Land Transport Innovation Fund to spur innovation and technology.
Mr Khaw said that technology will increase productivity and improve workers’ lives.
“For instance, railway maintenance can be enhanced using condition monitoring instruments. These smart sensors monitor the performance of the rail network and flag out anomalies so that they can be fixed before a fault can occur.
“Robotic drones will also take over dangerous or repetitive tasks. For example, rail and road tunnel inspections can be performed with greater ease and accuracy using aerial drones. Aerial drones are also deployed at selected Thomson East-Coast Line worksites to help our engineers monitor construction progress and identify defects through aerial footage,” he explained.
The Role of the Union
National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) Executive Secretary Melvin Yong said that the ITM gives a clear 10-year direction for the land transport industry.
“This is especially good for our workers. Take for example the bus captains. I think they are quite concerned about the trials conducted on autonomous vehicles. Now we are quite clear on how we can move and transition to using these new technologies,” said Mr Yong.
He added that NTWU will work closely with SGBA to co-develop training programmes for new skills in jobs that will be created as part of the ITM.
“We have to work very closely with the public transport operators and government agencies like LTA … More jobs will be created in the industry. Now the issue is what are these jobs and what are the skills needed for these jobs?
“We will need to work together to identify these skillsets and allow our workforce to have them. And then we will transit together to these new jobs,” he said.
Being Replaced by Technology
Addressing workers who are worried about being replaced by technology, Mr Yong said: “Our industry will not shrink, but instead it will expand. Therefore, our message to workers is to not worry. We will work together to ensure that we transit smoothly to these new jobs.”
Mr Khaw said: “While we expect the land transport industry to grow, resources are finite. Our population is ageing rapidly, while land and fiscal resources will become more stretched. Globally, land transport is being disrupted by new technologies … Some of these technologies can be unsettling. However, we can ride on them to enhance our land transport system and create better jobs.”
