SINGAPORE – A local start-up has come up with a digital platform that makes transporting migrant workers safely in mini buses more convenient and affordable.

By providing a pool of these vehicles that can be booked on-demand, Aespada Technologies chief executive Jean Christophe Lihopes to curb the decades-long practice of migrant workers being ferried on the back of lorries.

This year alone, there have been at least four accidents involving workers travelling on the back of lorries, leaving two dead and over 30 injured.

While concerns about the safety of transporting workers in this manner was highlighted in Parliament in May, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said cost and practical constraints have stymied the tightening of rules on worker transport in the past 10 years.

Mr Li told The Straits Times that Aespada could address employers’ cost considerations, since they would not have to maintain their own fleet of vehicles but could book transport from the firm’s partner instead.

He noted that smaller contractors often struggled to book buses, as operators usually preferred long-term rental commitments. Chartered buses follow a specific route and are non-flexible to accommodate to the demands of the industry, he said, adding that 45 seater buses are also not ideal for smaller contractors.Through the platform, companies will be able to book ad hoc or scheduled trips to ferry their workers at a manageable cost, said Mr Li.

He said the monthly cost of ferrying 13 workers back and forth to a work site that is 30km away with a lorry owned by a construction company will cost about $378 per worker as compared with using Aespada’s mini buses, which amounts to $267 per worker. This comparison accounts for the costs that a construction company incurs such as insurance and road tax.

Aespada currently has a fleet of 11 mini buses ranging from seven- to 13-seaters, and is looking to expand towards over 200 mini buses with its partner.

Since Aespada Technologies launched the feature last Friday (Oct 22), wireless network contractor Efficient Networks has signed up for the service.

Senior operations manager Richard Su told ST that since the pandemic began, “we started looking for alternatives after safe management measures meant that workers required more space on lorries”.

Carrying both materials and workers on the back of lorries was unsafe and did not allow for sufficient safe distancing.

But finding a cost-effective solution was particularly difficult for the business, as its workers services sites around the island.

“Previously, we did ask them to travel on public transport but that was difficult for accountability.”

While splitting the transportation workers and materials is slightly costlier, the company is glad that the workers can arrive safely and their movement can be tracked using Aespada.

“By booking trips on-demand, we do not need to worry about expanding our fleet and additional costs such as paying driver salaries and for diesel,” he added.

NTUC assistant secretary-general Melvin Yong, who has been championing for the safety of transporting workers to be improved, welcomed the platform’s effort to make transporting workers on mini-buses easier.

Smaller companies tend to face challenges in negotiating for cost-effective chartered bus contracts due to their small number of workers and the fact that their work sites can be scattered across Singapore, said Mr Yong.

“Outsourcing the role of the driver will also mitigate the risk of driver fatigue, which is an issue if companies require one of the workers, who has had a long day at the work site, to drive his fellow colleagues back,” he added.

However, Mr Yong noted that current worker cohorting requirements may make it challenging to achieve economies of scale, since workers from different zones within the work site are not allowed to be transported in the same vehicle.

He called on the authorities to review cohorting restrictions so that innovative solutions to transport workers safely to and from the work site can be trialled.

Services like Aespada could help solve the issue of employees transporting workers to a work site too early, which results in workers not having sufficient rest, said Mr Alex Au, vice-president of migrant rights group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2).

He said over the years, the organisation has come across cases involving employers who ask workers to be taken to the work site at 5am because a lorry has to be used to fetch other workers or goods.

The workers, however, do not start work until 8am, he added.

Dr Stephanie Chok, a TWC2 executive committee member, urged the Government to lead the way in improving standards for transporting workers.

“As public sector projects make up a significant percentage of construction demand, we hope these projects will ensure construction companies along their supply chain (from main to subcontractors) transport workers safely,” she said.

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