A millennial learns to drive a bus in Singapore – on Roblox. What could go wrong?

CNA01-19

During a recent training session to be a bus driver, I mounted countless kerbs, including when I reversed in the middle of a roundabout… onto another kerb. I also hit the brakes too late and stopped ...

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What could go wrong?","media":"CNA","content":"<div>\n<p>During a recent training session to be a bus driver, I mounted countless kerbs, including when I reversed in the middle of a roundabout… onto another kerb.\nI also hit the brakes too late and stopped ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.channelnewsasia.com/living/roblox-bus-tower-transit-singapore-roblox-4858436\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n","source":"can_highlight","html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>A millennial learns to drive a bus in Singapore – on Roblox. 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What could go wrong?\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2025-01-19 08:28 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/living/roblox-bus-tower-transit-singapore-roblox-4858436><strong>CNA</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>During a recent training session to be a bus driver, I mounted countless kerbs, including when I reversed in the middle of a roundabout… onto another kerb.\nI also hit the brakes too late and stopped ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.channelnewsasia.com/living/roblox-bus-tower-transit-singapore-roblox-4858436\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"LU0868486357.SGD","symbol_name":"JPMorgan Funds - Emerging Markets Opportunities A (acc) SGD-H","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://www.channelnewsasia.com/living/roblox-bus-tower-transit-singapore-roblox-4858436","article_id":"2504433075","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":["https://dam.mediacorp.sg/image/upload/s--insCQ6jZ--/c_crop,h_900,w_1200,x_243,y_0/c_fill,g_auto,h_622,w_830/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mediacorp/cna/image/2025/01/15/ttsr.png?itok=B1VUpcsM"],"rights":null,"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2504433075","pubTimestamp":1737246527,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"can_highlight","name":"CNA"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"Some bus enthusiasts in Singapore have designed experiences in Roblox – an online platform that's mostly popular among younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha users – to simulate real-life bus driver training. How hard could it be?","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"channelnewsasia.com","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"LU0868486357.SGD":"JPMorgan Funds - Emerging Markets Opportunities A (acc) SGD-H","LU0630378429.USD":"HSBC GIF ASIA PACIFIC EX JAPAN EQ HD \"AM2\" (USD) INC","LU0197773160.USD":"HSBC GIF ASIA PACIF EX JAPAN EQ HD \"AC\" ACC","BK4566":"资本集团","LU0536402901.SGD":"FTIF - Franklin India A (acc) SGD","LU0287143357.SGD":"Fidelity India Focus A-SGD","LU0348816934.USD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"AT\" (USD)","LU0541501648.USD":"ALLSPRING  EMERGING MARKETS EQUITY \"A\" (USD) ACC","LU0197773673.USD":"HSBC GIF ASIA PACIF EX JAPAN EQ HD \"AS\" (USD) INC","LU0348723411.USD":"ALLIANZ GLOBAL HI-TECH GROWTH \"A\" (USD) INC","BK4535":"淡马锡持仓","LU1854103824.USD":"M&G (LUX) POSITIVE IMPACT \"A\" (USD) INC","LU0528227936.USD":"富达环球人口趋势基金A-ACC","LU1861559042.SGD":"日兴方舟颠覆性创新基金B SGD","BK4588":"碎股","LU1791710582.SGD":"Fidelity Global Demographics A-ACC-SGD (SGD/USD hedged)","LU0541502299.USD":"ALLSPRING  EMERGING MARKETS EQUITY \"I\" (USD) ACC","LU0431992006.USD":"摩根大通新兴市场机会A（acc）","LU1791710400.SGD":"Fidelity Global Demographics A-ACC-SGD","LU2226246903.HKD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"AT4\" (HKD) ACC","BK4551":"寇图资本持仓","LU0390134368.USD":"FRANKLIN GLOBAL GROWTH \"A\" (USD) ACC","LU2265009873.SGD":"Eastspring Investments - Global Growth Equity AS SGD-H","BK4547":"WSB热门概念","SG9999014005.SGD":"United Global Durable Equities Fund Acc SGD","LU2279701549.SGD":"JPMorgan Funds - Emerging Markets Sustainable Equity A (acc) SGD","BK4085":"互动家庭娱乐","SG9999014013.SGD":"United Global Durable Equities Fund Dis SGD","LU1854104046.USD":"M&G (LUX) POSITIVE IMPACT \"A\" (USD) ACC","LU1804176565.USD":"EASTSPRING INV GLOBAL GROWTH EQUITY \"A\" (USD) ACC","LU0197229882.USD":"富达印度焦点基金","LU0231203729.USD":"富兰克林印度基金A (acc)","LU1105468828.SGD":"Allianz Total Return Asian Equity AM DIS H2-SGD","LU0918141705.HKD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"AM\" (HKD) INC","LU0348744763.USD":"ALLIANZ ASIA PACIFIC INCOME \"A\" (USD) INC","LU0630378692.HKD":"HSBC GIF ASIA PACIFIC EX JAPAN EQ HD \"AM2\" (HKD) INC","LU0348814723.USD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"A\" (USD) INC  NC","HDB":"HDFC银行","BK4565":"NFT概念","RBLX":"Roblox Corporation","BK4585":"ETF&股票定投概念","LU1282648689.USD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"AMG\" (USD) INC","LU0797268264.HKD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"AT\" (HKD) ACC","BK4554":"元宇宙及AR概念","LU1805238398.USD":"FIDELITY INDIA FOCUS \"A\" (USD) ACC","LU0456842615.SGD":"JPMorgan Funds - Emerging Markets Equity A (acc) SGD","LU1861558580.USD":"日兴方舟颠覆性创新基金B","LU1267930656.SGD":"FRANKLIN INDIA \"AS\" (SGD) ACC A","BK4523":"印度概念","LU0918141887.USD":"安联亚洲实际收益股票基金"},"translate_title":"一名千禧一代在新加坡学习驾驶公交车——在Roblox上。会出什么问题？","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"RBLX":1,"HDB":1},"content_text":"During a recent training session to be a bus driver, I mounted countless kerbs, including when I reversed in the middle of a roundabout… onto another kerb.\nI also hit the brakes too late and stopped several metres past the stop line at a traffic junction, before reversing the bus to the correct position. Relax, there were no vehicles behind me.\nThen I did a three-point turn that can only be described as a 12-point abomination. (Demerit points, that is.) I backed the bus into some bushes. In my defence, what were the bushes doing there, anyway? \nAbout the only thing I did right was remember to use my signal indicators whenever I entered and exited the bus bay at bus stops. That made up for me occasionally forgetting to close the front and rear doors before attempting to drive off.\nThankfully, all this happened in the virtual universe of Roblox, an online platform where users can play games created by themselves and others. \nSpecifically, I was learning to drive a bus in the fictional town of Bosham – created by the Tower Transit Singapore Roblox (TTSR) community – that simulates actual roads, traffic rules and even a bus depot in Singapore.\nSo, except for my ego, there were no casualties.\nROBLOX BUS COMMUNITIES SIMULATING REAL LIFE\nI’m no stranger to video games that simulate everyday occupations, having cut my teeth playing the popular restaurant time management game Diner Dash. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n      Photo evidence that I backed into the bushes while attempting a three-point turn. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\n      Escaped the shrubbery, only to drive the strugglebus straight in again, at another angle this time. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\n\nBut unlike such games with generic backdrops, I found myself navigating strangely familiar roads in Bosham. \nThere were bus lanes, white dotted lines and double yellow lines, and traffic junctions whose red light took too long to turn green, framed by the urban uniformity of Housing Development Board (HDB) flats. \nMinus the impatient drivers and oblivious pedestrians walking around with a phone addiction and a death wish, I was basically in a standard Singapore housing estate.\n\n\n\n\n\n      Like in real life, TTSR uses SMRT buses for training. Tower Transit buses are used after players get their driving licence. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\nWhile TTSR founder Danish Syazwan created the community in 2016, the Bosham map – or “experience” in Roblox terms – only began operations in May 2020 with two bus services. Today it is home to 25 bus services.\nTTSR isn’t officially affiliated with bus operator Tower Transit Singapore, though the Roblox community can be considered an homage to its real-life namesake. \nIt is part of a Roblox subculture of local transport enthusiast communities that have built experiences – including [SG] Singapore Air and Roblox Bus Services Transit – mirroring their respective transport roles and operations in reality.\nIn Bosham, for example, buses by SMRT are used for training. This follows actual protocol, in which Tower Transit Singapore sends its new hires to SMRT Buses, an approved training centre, for Class 4A training.\nAnd when the electric bus Volvo BZL with registration number SG4007T – operated by Tower Transit Singapore in real life – ended its trials in March 2024, the Roblox community did the same, removing the bus model from the game. \n“Some bus enthusiasts will tell us that when a certain bus is not in service anymore, we should also stop. We try to listen to the community and adapt,” said 23-year-old Syazwan.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n       View this post on Instagram            A post shared by TTSR ROBLOX (@ttsrsgroblox)\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTTSR even shares service disruptions and route amendments on its Instagram page, complete with uncannily realistic mock announcements, like an actual public bus operator would.\nMany from the TTSR community, which has more than 7,500 members currently, have said they prefer realism. Even a fictional environment should be based on real elements. \nService 403’s route in Bosham, for example, is based on real roads in Serangoon and Jurong.\n“We even tried to look at how Tower Transit Singapore promotes their bus captains and how we can recreate (a similar) system in Roblox,” Syazwan added.\nSo, just like in real life, anyone who wants to drive a bus around Bosham has to first obtain a licence. \n\n\n\n\n\n      My 19-year-old trainer, Jin Kai, who probably had no idea what he signed up for before our one-hour training. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\nGETTING MY SINGAPORE BUS DRIVING LICENCE IN ROBLOX\nLike in a real driving test, I also had to pass various similar challenges in Bosham, from turning into the correct lane to slowing down before approaching a traffic junction. Easy peasy.\nI had gotten my Class 3 driver’s licence 15 years ago on my first try, so I declared I “know my roads” to my instructor and tester Ong Jin Kai before the session.\n“Then you should have no problem!” the 19-year-old quipped over voice chat.\nI almost overturned my bus trying to exit the Bosham depot to begin my test route.\n\n\n\n\n\n      Should probably take the common advice \"stick to your lane\" literally. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\nAfter a few thousand years, I managed to drive out of the depot.\nThe exceedingly patient Jin Kai was now guiding me along the route. At each bus stop, I had to perform a series of commands on my keyboard. \nZ to signal left before entering the bus bay\nS to slow down the bus\n; to activate the handbrake\nJ to open the front doors\nK to open the rear doors\nJ to close the front doors \nK to close the rear doors\n; to release the handbrake\nC to signal right before exiting the bus bay\nW to move off\nIn hindsight, I may have more success performing brain surgery on a fidgeting person with my eyes closed.\nI didn’t always follow these commands in the right order, omitted certain steps or plain forgot to release the handbrake before attempting to drive off. In reality, I would probably have received a failing grade, if not a desperate plea to reconsider getting my licence. \nIn Bosham, I continued to test the limits of Jin Kai’s patience. He only reassured me, with genuine cheer, that he could see my effort.\n“Yes, very good! You’re getting the hang of it!”\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n      Navigating a roundabout. Or trying to. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\n      Mounting a kerb while navigating a roundabout. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\n      Got the roundabout removed - probably out of massive pity for me. If only this could happen in reality. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\n\nWhen I was stuck at an odd angle in a narrow roundabout, unable to reverse or move forward after several tries, Jin Kai decided to remove the obstacle from my path – literally. He clicked around on the backend and the roundabout vanished on screen.\nLater, in another gesture presumably also motivated by pity or sympathy, he granted me a passing grade. I was officially a bus driver! Take that, poor hand-eye coordination!\nNow, how was I supposed to get out of the driver’s seat?\n“A SAFE PLACE FOR BUS ENTHUSIASTS”\nWhen I first learnt about TTSR’s Bosham and similar experiences in other Roblox communities, I assumed it was to drum up interest in the bus driving profession among the younger generation, like what private bus operator A&S Transit did in 2024. \nThe company collaborated with the team behind Roblox role-playing game Singverse to recreate digital versions of its bus models in a virtual universe based on real roads in Singapore.\n\n\n\n\n\n      Perhaps one day I'll learn to stop at the bus stop, like this player, without almost knocking off my side mirror. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\nBut after trying – and let’s be honest, struggling – to drive a bus in my hour-long session, I understood better the inevitable sense of belonging that comes from being part of a niche community. It’s akin to sharing an inside joke or having a secret language no one outside the 7,500 other members can speak. \n“TTSR is just to create a safe place for bus enthusiasts to have fun,” Syazwan said.\n“A lot of our (bus captains) are still studying in secondary school … Most of them would like to drive a bus, but they’re not old enough. So this experience gives them that sense of realism,” Jin Kai added.\nIn fact, struggling to memorise the keyboard controls, flooring the accelerator like a maniac, veering into an adjacent lane while trying to keep my bus straight, and laughing at my appalling excuse of a three-point turn that took three minutes to execute were all necessary for my enjoyable maiden Roblox experience. \n\n\n\n\n\n      Made an excessively sharp turn into a bus bay - and almost hit the bus stop roof. (Image: Tower Transit Singapore Roblox)\n    \n\n\n\n\nJin Kai had told me before my training that he enjoys playing the game too, even as he now trains newbies.\n“It’s a way to destress. After a long day at work or school, I come back, hop on at night and go for a short night drive,” he’d said. \nAt the time, I couldn’t quite grasp the catharsis in, well, driving a virtual bus. But as the hour went on, I grew increasingly relaxed. \nIn Bosham, I was a teenager again, like many in TTSR, dying to get home from school so I could spend hours on the internet. I didn’t need to excel at my newfound skill. I didn’t need to be productive. I didn’t even really need to get my licence – though I suspect I would probably be the first player to flop spectacularly.\nI could simply have fun indulging my curiosity without worrying about the outcome.\nI tried to remember that elusive feeling, now increasingly unfamiliar in an achievement-oriented career. Then the traffic light turned green, breaking my reverie.\nI activated my signal indicator and hit the accelerator. \nThe engine sputtered. The bus remained stationary. \nI’d forgotten to release the handbrake.","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.30.2","shortVersion":"4.30.2","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2504433075"}