URBAN TRANSPORT AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The proliferation of motor vehicles in the past three decades has raised concerns about the environmental impacts of urban transport. The prime objective of this study is to present a survey of these problems and to critically assess the present and foreseeable options to alleviate these problems. The measures implemented should strive to develop a green transport system in Singapore wherein mobility is achieved efficiently without expense to the environment. Currently, the environment is an issue but not the key concern in the planning of the transport system in Singapore. The environmental issues in urban transport stem mainly from the use of private motor vehicles, especially the car. This study will discuss in some detail the localized transport-induced air and noise pollution. Other negative environmental effects attributable to urban transport, such as global air pollution, visual impacts and water pollution will also be dealt with briefly. After highlighting the environmental problems, the regulations and measures implemented in Singapore as well as in other countries to reduce pollution will be examined. To reduce the harmful effects of road transport, a comprehensive package of policies has been introduced in Singapore since the early seventies. While these regulatory measures may be useful for reducing the environmental problems, they are not sufficient. Ultimately, the development of a green transport system involves changes in the attitudes and lifestyle of the users themselves. This study will attempt to identify policies which can be implemented to induce environmentally-friendly behaviour from the transport users. Of paticular interest is the link between the level of environmental consciousness and travel behaviour. In this study, a survey was undertaken wherein car drivers were interviewed to ascertain their level of awareness of environmental problems, their willingness to change their travel behaviour and their attitudes towards the existing measures. The survey results reveal that drivers had very poor knowledge of the transport-induced environmental impacts. This suggests that there are opportunities for environmental education to be more widely promoted to motivate travel behaviour changes. However, the survey findings also show that many drivers ( 43 .8 per cent) would certainly not change to a less pollutive alternative mode of transport even when they were informed about the environmental damages caused by urban transport. Thus, attempts to educate car owners to take a more proactive approach in developing environmentally-friendly travel habits may not be effective on their own. This highlights that there is still an important place for regulatory and economic measures to control the transport-resultant environmental problems.