Bus commuters playing music loudly, putting feet on seats face fines of up to $500 from Sept 23: LTA

SINGAPORE – Bus passengers who play music loudly, put their feet on seats, or engage in other disruptive acts can be fined up to $500 from Sept 23, under new laws to make public transport commutes safer and more comfortable.

More severe offences, such as causing obstruction or danger at bus interchanges and terminals, or soiling any part of a bus or interchange, will carry a maximum fine of $5,000, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Sept 21.

As public transport is a shared space, every commuter has a part to play in ensuring “a gracious and pleasant commuting environment”, it said.

LTA will continue to work with public bus operators to exercise discretion when handling cases involving inconsiderate commuters, particularly those with physical or mental health conditions.

To enforce these rules, certain staff from the four public bus operators, such as ticket inspectors and staff in bus interchanges, can issue administrative notifications to passengers suspected of committing offences.

LTA will then follow up with its investigations.

Bus drivers will not be authorised to issue such notifications “so as not to affect their core duty of safely operating the bus,” it said.

However, they can advise passengers to stop engaging in disruptive behaviour, and ask them to alight if they fail to comply.

If an unruly passenger refuses to cooperate, a bus driver can request for help from the bus operations control centre or the police.

In its statement, LTA said the new penalties align with those for rail, adding that in managing disruptive behaviour on buses, the priority is to minimise any inconvenience to other commuters, while ensuring that bus services are not disrupted.

In March 2025, then Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng said in Parliament that the Government’s powers to manage commuter behaviour on board buses were more limited than for rail.

New regulations were subsequently passed in Parliament in October 2025, with the aim of regulating the conduct of bus passengers to prevent inconsiderate behaviour.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Murali Pillai said then that the rules will take reference from the Rapid Transit Systems Act.

Aqil Hamzah is a transport journalist at The Straits Times. He is also interested in issues related to crime and technology.