School bus fares for Pathlight students to climb by 40%-50% in 2026

SINGAPORE – Bus fares for Pathlight School will jump by 40 per cent to 50 per cent from January, affecting students across its three campuses.

Parents were first informed in an Oct 2 letter from the school, seen by The Straits Times, that its bus service provider Woodlands Transport Solutions (WTS) said it needed to raise fares to cover rising costs.

The school then decided to call a tender to “evaluate school bus providers in the market” before appointing a provider for the new academic year.

On Nov 5, the school informed parents that it was reappointing WTS after the tender exercise.

A spokeswoman for Pathlight School told ST that the procurement process was fair, transparent, competitive and in accordance with procurement guidelines.

She added that the bids were evaluated by a “multidisciplinary panel based on criteria such as safety, reliability and service quality”.

Pathlight offers primary, secondary and vocational education for students with autism

who are aged between seven and 18. In 2025, about 60 per cent of the students used the school bus service.

Bus fees will be raised by 40 per cent for its two campuses in Ang Mo Kio, and by 50 per cent for

the Tampines one.

The new monthly fares for students at Pathlight School (Ang Mo Kio Campus 2), for instance, range from $179 for a one-way trip within 2km of the school to $592 for a two-way trip over 20.01km away.

Some parents told ST they were unhappy about the extent of the increase and the way the operator handled their queries. However, due to their family circumstances and their children not being able to take public transport independently, they have no choice but to continue using the service.

Mr Alvin Tay, 44, will be faced with a $568 monthly bill in 2026 for the two-way trip that his 12-year-old son, who is starting Primary 5, takes between the school in Ang Mo Kio and their home in Yew Tee in western Singapore. He now pays $406.

Mr Tay, a civil servant with three children, said he may apply for transport subsidies to help ease the burden.

Mr Mohammed Naim, 44, a senior executive in the telecommunications industry, will pay $451 a month for his son’s one-way daily trip after school, up from $322 now.

Training his 13-year-old son to take public transport after school to Mr Naim’s mother’s home in Woodlands is not an option. He said that if they stop using the school bus, he will have to use his lunch hour to ferry his son before returning to work.

Ms Michelle Huang, 42, a sales manager in the retail industry, will be paying $307 in 2026 for her 12-year-old son’s school bus service, compared with $219 in 2025.

In addition to the higher fee, she was vexed by the lack of explanation for the increase, adding that she got a one-word answer when she called the bus company: “inflation”.

WTS first clinched the contract to provide transport for students at all three Pathlight campuses for 2025. Previously, the individual campuses used different operators.

When contacted, a spokesman for WTS said that around 100 small and medium-sized buses cater to 1,000 Pathlight students from the three campuses.

Some buses are provided by WTS’ sub-contractors, and all of them have bus attendants on board when ferrying Pathlight students.

Over the past year, the cost of engaging bus attendants and sub-contractors has been higher than projected because of

the general manpower shortage

in the private bus industry, the spokesman said.

The spokeswoman for Pathlight School said: “Families who meet the eligibility criteria can apply for

the Enabling Transport Subsidy

administered by SG Enable, and the school will engage these families to provide the necessary support.”

This subsidy, provided by the Ministry of Social and Family Development, covers up to 80 per cent of transport fees for people with disabilities.

Eligibility criteria include a monthly household per capita income of $3,600 and below for Singapore citizens, or $2,600 for permanent residents.

When contacted, the Ministry of Education said school bus fares are determined through a competitive bidding process.

It also said: “Special education (SPED) schools serve students with specific and higher needs and may have requirements beyond those of mainstream schools. These requirements would be taken into consideration when SPED schools negotiate school bus fares.”