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

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 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.

Then 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? 

About 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.

Thankfully, all this happened in the virtual universe of Roblox, an online platform where users can play games created by themselves and others. 

Specifically, 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.

So, except for my ego, there were no casualties.

ROBLOX BUS COMMUNITIES SIMULATING REAL LIFE

I’m no stranger to video games that simulate everyday occupations, having cut my teeth playing the popular restaurant time management game Diner Dash. 

But unlike such games with generic backdrops, I found myself navigating strangely familiar roads in Bosham.

There 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. 

Minus 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.

While 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.

TTSR isn’t officially affiliated with bus operator Tower Transit Singapore, though the Roblox community can be considered an homage to its real-life namesake. 

It 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.

In 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.

And 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.

“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.

TTSR even shares service disruptions and route amendments on its Instagram page, complete with uncannily realistic mock announcements, like an actual public bus operator would.

Many 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. 

Service 403’s route in Bosham, for example, is based on real roads in Serangoon and Jurong.

“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.

So, just like in real life, anyone who wants to drive a bus around Bosham has to first obtain a licence. 

GETTING MY SINGAPORE BUS DRIVING LICENCE IN ROBLOX

Like 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.

I 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.

“Then you should have no problem!” the 19-year-old quipped over voice chat.

I almost overturned my bus trying to exit the Bosham depot to begin my test route.

After a few thousand years, I managed to drive out of the depot.

The 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. 

• Z to signal left before entering the bus bay
• S to slow down the bus
• ; to activate the handbrake
• J to open the front doors
• K to open the rear doors
• J to close the front doors
• K to close the rear doors
• ; to release the handbrake
• C to signal right before exiting the bus bay
• W to move off

In hindsight, I may have more success performing brain surgery on a fidgeting person with my eyes closed.

I 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. 

In 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.

“Yes, very good! You’re getting the hang of it!”

When 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.

Later, 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!

Now, how was I supposed to get out of the driver’s seat?

“A SAFE PLACE FOR BUS ENTHUSIASTS”

When 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. 

The 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.

But 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. 

“TTSR is just to create a safe place for bus enthusiasts to have fun,” Syazwan said.

“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.

In 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. 

Jin Kai had told me before my training that he enjoys playing the game too, even as he now trains newbies.

“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. 

At 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. 

In 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.

I could simply have fun indulging my curiosity without worrying about the outcome.

I tried to remember that elusive feeling, now increasingly unfamiliar in an achievement-oriented career. Then the traffic light turned green, breaking my reverie.

I activated my signal indicator and hit the accelerator. 

The engine sputtered. The bus remained stationary. 

I’d forgotten to release the handbrake.