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With more than 25 years spent working firstly as an engineer and now in the public transport industry, Jeffrey Sim has learned plenty about what it takes to make a great leader.
“To start off, leadership is not an end state, it really is a journey,” the Group CEO of SBS Transit tells The CEO Magazine.
“It is always a work in progress. It is important to be visionary, which means being open to ideas. I’m mindful of where we need to go, how we are going to get there and as a leader, I need to develop that pathway.”
“I want our people to have a sense of ownership so that whatever we achieve, they know they’ve contributed to the success.”
Sim is also a firm believer in the power of learning to understand not only the customers the company serves but also his team of staff, in order to encourage them to work toward a common goal.
“It’s important to imbue in our people a sense of purpose so that no matter where they are from, no matter what they are doing – whether you’re in corporate support, on the frontline operations or backend engineering – everyone is contributing toward the larger purpose,” explains Sim, who has been Group CEO since 2023.
“I want our people to have a sense of ownership so that whatever we achieve, they know they’ve contributed to the success.”
More than just SBS Transit’s purpose of moving people in a safe, reliable and sustainable way, it is committed to making every journey a delight for its passengers.
“We are looking at how we can better delight our commuters by anticipating their needs and even giving them helpful information that they may not realize that they actually need,” Sim points out.
“We also want to be more inclusive in providing our public transport services so it’s not just for able-bodied commuters, but those with disabilities – physical and invisible – as well. We have put in place a suite of assistive technologies as well as inclusive initiatives to help individuals – including those with dementia, wheelchair users, people who are hard of hearing or visually impaired and older adults – in traveling safely and confidently.”
Another major priority is SBS Transit’s commitment to sustainability, aligning with Singapore’s goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“We can consider ourselves to be the industry leader, not only in environmental stewardship where we try to reduce energy consumption, but also in social and governance responsibility,” Sim says.
“We’re working with a German transport solutions leader to develop this innovative AI tool, which will be a first in the world.”
“Most railways today operate a fixed set of trains based on day of the week and time of the day, but we are trying to collect data so that we can deploy our trains to better match ridership demand.
“We’re working with a German transport solutions leader to develop this innovative AI tool, which will be a first in the world.”
Setting up a mobility innovation center called MINNOVA, SBS Transit is pooling knowledge from institutes of higher learning, startups and multinational corporations in order to advance the entire industry and country.
“We have a process where we are able to sandbox, trial, test, commission and scale accordingly.”
“We have invested in dedicated staff who will look around, not just within the public transport industry but outside as well, to see whether there are new technologies and concepts that we are able to implement in our public transport industry,” Sim says.
“We have a process where we are able to sandbox, trial, test, commission and scale accordingly. For example, we have now introduced SiLViA, which is our sign language virtual assistant, working with one of the startups under the auspices of MINNOVA.”
The result is a translator that is able to take both audio and text and turn them into sign language for those who are hard of hearing, who may not be able to hear announcements in train stations.
“It is just one of the examples that we have developed, not only in safety and reliability, but also to promote inclusivity and elevate our customer experience,” Sim says.
Indeed, it is through essential partnerships with companies such as TNT Surveillance to ensure safety is always a priority and France’s state-owned public transport operator RATP Dev to operate and maintain urban rail systems, that SBS Transit is able to provide world-class public transport services.
“We acknowledge that we do not have a monopoly on ideas,” Sim says. “And while we have expertise in delivering high levels of safe, reliable and customer-focused train and bus services, there are many different aspects, which we are not experts in.
“Therefore, we continually look for like-minded partners where we can pool our strengths and complement each other in developing products and solutions.”
“We are looking at how we can better delight our commuters by anticipating their needs and even giving them helpful information that they may not realize that they actually need.”
Through focus groups and feedback channels, SBS Transit is able to get a better sense of the pain points of commuters and work on solutions together with its partners.
“We have close relationships with fellow public transport operators and suppliers where we exchange ideas and best practices on an annual basis, either bilaterally or multilaterally in both Europe and Asia,” Sim says.
“Collaboration is part of our DNA and many of our achievements have been a result of very strong and enduring partnerships that we have developed over these years.”
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