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And because they have to shorten waiting times for commuters by August next year, they will need even more drivers. SBS Transit projects it will need another 100 more by then.
About 1,500 bus drivers have been hired over the past three years, but the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU) has said this is still not enough.
Among these hires, only a quarter are Singapore citizens, while the rest are permanent residents and Malaysians. Earlier this year, both operators started hiring mainland Chinese drivers.
To tackle the shortage, the union and bus operators have set up a committee to look into how the job can be made more attractive to Singaporeans by 'rebranding' it to highlight its positive aspects.
It is also looking into making the job 'more competitive', said NTWU executive secretary Seng Han Thong.
And to further widen the pool of bus drivers here, it also plans to look into enticing more women and older workers into taking the job.
The committee expects to roll out some of these plans in the next six months.
Mr Seng noted that the job now had a largely negative image - one that was dead-end and demanded that the person put in long, irregular hours for a low salary.
He told The Straits Times: 'We hope to rebrand the whole industry and increase awareness among Singaporeans that bus drivers do get many benefits.'
He pointed out that, for example, bus drivers get allowances and about three months in bonus on top of their minimum basic monthly pay of $1,200. They also get CPF and medical benefits.
A check with private bus companies showed that while some also offered their drivers CPF and leave, they paid less and did not offer full medical benefits.
Private bus drivers who ferry children to school, for example, take home less than $2,000 a month, but their hours are shorter.
SBS Transit's bus drivers earn between $1,600 and $3,500, including overtime pay, perks and allowances.
More than half the company's 5,200 bus drivers earn more than $2,500; over a fifth draw more than $3,000.
Among the higher earners is senior bus captain Tay Tiang Hui, 51, who has been driving for 29 years. He now earns more than $2,600, a sum he is satisfied with.
However, there are others unhappy with what they earn. One bus driver, who cannot be named as he has not been cleared to speak to reporters, said he earned just over $2,000 a month.
Now 60, after having driven a bus for more than 30 years, he said: 'The pay is very little, but I have no choice. What else can I do when I am so old already?'
But if bus operators were to raise the salaries of drivers, their operating costs would go up, and this could translate into fare increases for commuters.
MP Ong Kian Min, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, is all for rebranding the bus driver's job.
'Many people are not prepared to accept the job based on perceptions of what it is like. Changing the image will help in this case,' he said.
But an advertising industry man pointed out that rebranding can only come after substantial changes are made to the job itself.
Mr Mark Fong, creative director of advertising agency Young & Rubicam, said: 'There is only so much image can do. Job redesign has to take place first before you go into branding.'
