Driving transformation: How Lionel Lee is steering Westpoint Transit as a second-gen boss
From wage hikes to digitalisation, he is retooling a family business to attract younger drivers and prepare for the future
[SINGAPORE] When Westpoint Transit announced S$5,000 salaries for bus drivers in 2023, some industry observers dismissed it as a publicity gimmick.
But with the move, second-generation boss Lionel Lee aimed to rejuvenate an ageing workforce and redefine the private bus industry’s future.
Lee had not originally intended to join the family business, which was founded in 1982 by his parents.
A law graduate, he worked as a copywriter, then an account manager at an advertising agency, leading to eventual co-ownership of advertising service firm Playmakers.
But his parents asked him to try a six-month stint leading the private chartered transport company. He ended up taking over as director, just months before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Now, Lee is working on modernising Westpoint with wage reform and an electrified future.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 8.30 am
SGSME
Get updates on Singapore's SME community, along with profiles, news and tips.
Attracting younger drivers
Westpoint made headlines in December 2023, when it announced a monthly starting salary of S$3,500 to S$5,000 for its drivers, above the industry average of S$1,800 to S$4,500 then.
The company also offered a joining bonus of S$7,500 to S$10,000 depending on the size of the bus.
Nearly two years on, Lee said the move has broadly achieved the intended objectives.
The company has hired the 30 additional drivers it wanted, and shown that it can attract younger drivers. Locals now form 85 per cent of Westpoint’s drivers, up from 70 per cent.
“What we saw and continue to see today is that we still get applicants coming from other industries or within the industry,” he said.
The wage hike’s aim was not to outmuscle Westpoint’s competitors, but to increase the number of drivers in the industry, he said.
As for critics’ views that the move was meant for publicity, Lee said the higher wages were a way to show “appreciation” that bus drivers are the “backbone of Westpoint”.
However, the attractive wages had an unexpected downside. They drew applicants who could not cope with the reality of driving a charter bus for 44 hours every week. These drivers soon left and had to be replaced.
Pivoting with the electric future
Westpoint has also been in sync with Singapore’s shift towards electric vehicles, with the Republic aiming for a 100 per cent cleaner-energy public bus fleet by 2040.
The company bought an electric bus as early as 2020, instead of “waiting and seeing” what the rest of the private industry was doing.
“We’ve learnt that lesson before, where if you wait and you see… you will find less answers than you anticipate,” said Lee.
That electric bus purchase has helped Westpoint gain a better understanding of the purchase and operation of the next generation of buses, and given it a close look at the current “major challenge” of bus charger availability.
“Drivers don’t want to stand around for two or four hours, waiting for their bus to charge,” said Lee. Idle time also has financial costs for the company and drivers.
Another transport trend that Westpoint is watching is that of autonomous vehicles (AVs), including buses.
In October, a BYD-linked consortium won an LTA contract to trial autonomous buses in public for three years. This preceded the launch of AV shuttle services in Punggol, as well as FairPrice Group’s announcement of the use of AVs on public roads for supply chain operations.
“While I do want the autonomous buses to quickly come in, we also have to be very practical to understand that the human driver factor is still going to be a large part of the industry,” said Lee.
He expects wider deployment of autonomous buses, particularly by private operators, around the first or second quarter of 2026 – roughly around the same time public bus services 191 and 400 begin autonomous operations.
That timeline works in Westpoint’s favour, said Lee, as it will give his company more time to “plan and speak with customers” about areas such as safety, regulations and public perception.
“Autonomous vehicles are going to be part of the future,” he added.
Leadership growth through the fires of Covid
Having been in his role at Westpoint for less than half a year before the pandemic hit, Lee was not exactly prepared for the challenges that came with the implementation of circuit-breaker measures in April 2020.
He had to quickly figure out how to handle the company’s communications and protect drivers who interact with up to hundreds of people every day.
Fortunately, Lee had already begun digitalising the company’s operations. “We had spent a good six months developing a basic system that actually saw us through the first few months of Covid.”
That crash course in crisis leadership helped Lee become a more grounded leader.
Yet, although he is the boss and his parents have retired, Lee still consults them for advice. “They’re basically like the minister mentors, right?” said Lee, sharing that they still comment on decisions he makes, such as the 30-driver expansion.
His ultimate goal: to steer Westpoint through another generation of change as a future-ready transport operator that values its people while keeping pace with technological shifts.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
