DSAT to ease access to bus driving licenses

The Transport Bureau (DSAT) plans to facilitate the examination procedures to access bus driving licenses “in order to motivate more people to work in the profession,” said Lam Hin San, director of the Transport Bureau, while exiting the plenary meeting of the Traffic Advisory Board (CCT) at DSAT headquarters yesterday.
According to Lam, the measure is justified by the “heavy pressure” on this professional sector, which is set to lose “110 drivers in the next four years” as these drivers reach retirement age. These figures represent about 10 percent of the total.
The move to facilitate the licenses will be mostly related to the mechanics examination, which will no longer be a requirement.
The need for more bus drivers is also due to the growth in the number of passengers.
Another of the measures being prepared by DSAT is  the use of new articulated buses, which are 18 meters long.
The revision of the traffic regulations has already been concluded and is “just waiting for the legislation procedures that will take more time.”
Questioned by journalists over whether DSAT is open to the hiring of non-resident workers for bus driver positions, the bureau head said, “For the moment we are focused on encouraging the local citizens that are interested in serving Macau citizens. For the moment, one driver is serving about 540 citizens a day and we are trying to adjust this in order to provide more services. We still have a lot of resources to develop,” he said.
Another of the topics addressed at the meeting was the implementation of the GPS location and information system, which will allow passengers to know when the next bus will arrive at the bus stop.
The system, revealed the DSAT director, cost MOP19 million and will kick off its trial period “within the next two months.”