All vehicles in Singapore, including buses, must be registered before they can be driven on public roads. Before you register a bus, learn the requirements to operate different types of buses.
At a glance
Understanding Bus Registration |
Buses must be registered in Singapore before they can be driven on public roads. |
Registering a bus |
There are 5 types of buses, each used for different purposes.
You must apply for in-principle approval from the LTA before you register a bus. Only Excursion Buses do not need in-principle approval. Omnibuses can only be registered under public bus operators. There are 2 ways to register your bus:
From 28 August 2023, all Vehicle Registration applications created by a motor dealer (i.e. Electronic Service Agent) require you to login to onemotoring.lta.gov.sg > Login Dashboard using your Singpass 2FA to provide consent and authorisation to proceed with registration.
2. Self-registration at LTA Customer Service Centre
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Find out more |
Find out more about bus registration and ownership on lta.gov.sg
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Understanding Bus Registration
All buses in Singapore must be registered with LTA before they can be driven on public roads.
There are 5 types of buses, including Omnibuses that are registered under the public bus operators. Before you register a bus, learn the requirements to operate different types of buses.
- A Private Bus is used to ferry employees or people related to the business of the bus owner.
- A Private Hire Bus is used to ferry students to and from schools or workers to and from their workplace. It can also be chartered out for other purpose, such as to ferry a group of passengers to an event.
- An Excursion Bus is mainly used to ferry tourists. It can also be used to ferry students and workers.
- A School Bus is used to ferry students to and from school. It can also be used to ferry workers to and from their workplace, if the bus has an Adult Workers’ Contract (AWC) permit.
- An Omnibus is a bus operated by public transport operators.
Private Buses, Private Hire Buses and Excursion Buses need to have a Category C or E COE.
Registering a bus
Only Excursion Buses do not need in-principle approval from the LTA before registration. For Private Buses, Private Hire Buses and School Buses, you need to apply to the LTA for in-principle approval before you can register or buy or convert a bus.
If you are registering a School Bus, you can only apply to take over the registration of an existing School Bus, as there are no new licences being issued for School Buses.
Once you have obtained in-principle approval, you can proceed to engage a motor dealer to register the bus for you. You can also choose to register a bus yourself.
There are 2 ways to register your bus:
1. Registering a bus through a Motor Dealer
Your motor dealer will create a Vehicle Registration application and submit it on your behalf. Once the application is submitted, you will receive an SMS to login to onemotoring.lta.gov.sg > Login Dashboard > using your Singpass 2FA to accept the TCOE transfer (if applicable) and the vehicle registration by the expiry date stated in your SMS. After you have authorised the vehicle registration, your motor dealer will make payment to complete the vehicle registration.
Find out how you can authorise your vehicle registration through this link.
2. Self-registering a bus
You can register a bus yourself by following these steps: