For the past year, Mr Gerald Lim, 37, has been ferrying pupils to their primary schools in his Toyota Prius every weekday morning.
The full-time private-hire car driver is among 60 to 70 drivers engaged by Lylo, a Singapore car rental and concierge company, for its school transport service.
It costs between $20 and $50 per trip for every child, depending on distance and the type of vehicle used.
If there are other children living close enough requesting the service to the same school, the company can carpool them. This brings the price down to between $8 and $15 a trip for each child.
This means parents could spend anywhere between $160 and $300 a month for one-way carpooled trips for their children to or from school. The monthly fee is paid in advance, after the route and rate have been confirmed with Lylo.
In comparison, school bus services can cost up to $240 a month for a one-way trip of no more than 4km from the school. Those living farther will be charged more if the bus operator can accommodate them.
About 300 students have signed up for Lylo's school transport service in 2025, the company's spokesman told The Straits Times. Around 40 per cent of them are primary school pupils, with the rest being students from international schools.
As far as possible, the firm assigns the same driver for the trips. Parents are kept updated via messaging service WhatsApp when their child has been picked up or has reached their destination.
この記事は The Straits Times の January 01, 2025 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Straits Times の January 01, 2025 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Passengers say Turkish Airlines flights have bedbugs
Shortly after boarding her Turkish Airlines flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul in March, Ms Patience Titcombe from Phoenix noticed a small bug crawling on her seat when she got up to use the restroom.
Actor Ben Yeo shutters restaurant after incurring $1 million loss in two years
Local actor and F&B entrepreneur Ben Yeo is shutting down the high-end modern Chinese restaurant he founded, Tan Xiang Yuan, after two years.
Director Jeff Baena elevated dark themes with humour in his works
American director and screenwriter Jeff Baena, who co-wrote the dark comedy I Heart Huckabees (2004) and directed films including Life After Beth (2014) and Horse Girl (2020), died on Jan. 3 at a residence in Los Angeles. He was 47.
Squid Game star denies ties with South Korea ruling party's former leader
Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae has distanced himself from the party of South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol after a photo of him with the party's ex-leader resurfaced online, according to Korean media.
Japanese cast dominates as Shogun breaks new ground
Comeback stories and Asian representation at the awards show celebrating the best in film and TV
A toast to Switzerland
The country is adopting a sip-and-stay approach to spread the word on its best-kept secret – wines
Saving the mysterious African manatee in Cameroon
Ever since his first hard-won sightings of African manatees, award-winning marine biologist Aristide Takoukam Kamla has been devoted to protecting the little-known and at-risk aquatic mammals.
'CRAZY' CHUA TURNS PRO
S'pore triathlete aims to win SEA Games, qualify for Asian Games and Olympics
The fall in sport is cruel, inevitable and hard to digest
In sport, this is the guarantee. Falls will be hard. The boxer sent to the canvas. The rugby winger brought to earth. The gymnast slipping off the high bar. And the hero tumbling from his pedestal.
AMORIM WANTS SAME 'MENTALITY EVERY DAY'
United need to replicate the fortitude shown in draw at Liverpool to become a better side
