LTA clarifies cross-border transport arrangements

On 1 August 2025, Singaporean and Malaysian officials met to discuss cross-border service arrangements. During this discussion, the issue of allowing cross-border e-hailing (ride-hailing) to ferry passengers was raised, but no decision was made. As of press time, the LTA has clarified that it still has no plan to fully liberalise cross-border point-to-point transport via ride-hail services.

The LTA notes that there is a current Cross Border Taxi Scheme (CBTS) in place that allows a licensed fleet of up to 200 taxis from each side to ferry passengers between Singapore and Johor Bahru. Acknowledging that the existing CBTS quota has not been fully utilised, the authority is also considering increasing the number of boarding and alighting points in each other's country, as well as the usage of ride-hailing apps to book cross-border trips on licensed taxis. As the CBTS is a reciprocal agreement, any change will require agreement from both governments.

During the aforementioned discussion, Malaysian authorities also requested for Singapore's cross-border buses to start their operations from Johor Bahru at 04:00am. Thus, the LTA is currently assessing whether the operating time can be adjusted to address bus crowdings.

The LTA is also exploring the possibility of bringing forward the bus start times slightly, as well as engaging private bus operators on their interest to operate earlier services at higher fares.