SINGAPORE - Even at 69, senior bus captain Ng Hai Huee still springs out of bed at 2am every day to get ready for her morning shift at Soon Lee depot.

She began working at SBS Transit as a bus conductor in 1976, when the company was known as Singapore Bus Services (SBS). Nine years later, she became a bus driver and has been behind the wheel for 38 years.

In her near five decades at the company, Madam Ng has switched from driving buses with manual transmission to those with automatic transmission, and seen the entire fleet outfitted with air-conditioning, among other notable changes.

“Driving a bus with automatic transmission feels better than driving a regular car because I get to enjoy a clearer view of my surroundings since the bus is much taller,” she said.

Over the years, Madam Ng has donned three different sets of driver uniforms, ranging from the light blue one in the 1980s, to the faded teal version in the 1990s – her personal favourite because it makes her look “delicate and young” – to the current striped purple and wrinkle-free one.

These three uniforms are part of the memorabilia on display – among others such as bus guides and paper tickets – at SBS Transit’s heritage exhibition at Toa Payoh bus interchange. The exhibition was launched on Thursday to commemorate the operator’s 50th anniversary.

It also showcases the evolution of SBS Transit’s bus infrastructure and the operator’s significant milestones over the past five decades.

Some key milestones include the opening of Singapore’s first bus interchange in Jurong Road in 1978, the launch of the first air-conditioned bus service – service 168 – in 1986, Singapore clinching the title of the world’s biggest double-decker bus in 1993, and SBS Transit’s expansion to provide rail services in 2001.

Visitors can also try their hand at the operator’s hazard awareness training test, which is used to train bus captains to detect and respond to hazards.

The exhibition will rove around various transport nodes until the end of November. After Toa Payoh bus interchange, it will move to HarbourFront MRT station, Tampines bus interchange, Little India MRT station, Bedok bus interchange and Serangoon MRT station.

At the launch, Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat congratulated SBS Transit on its five decades of service.

“Here’s to the next 50 years and more as we shape the future of public transportation in Singapore together,” he added.

For Madam Ng, bus driving has given her many fond memories.

She recounted ferrying a female commuter who was in her 30s on service 334 in Jurong. She continued to meet this passenger over the last three decades, and has seen her son grow from a newborn baby to an adult with his own children.

This passenger’s entire family – spanning three generations – recognises and greets her every time they cross paths on a bus, she said with a laugh.

Today, Madam Ng’s own grandsons specially wait to board the bus she drives so that they can accompany her while she is on her shift.

“My daughter practically grew up on the bus! Now, my grandsons are like that, too,” she said.