PLANNING AND DESIGN OF INTRA TOWN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION MEANS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Singapore has been progressing rapidly towards a first world nation and with this comes along inevitable social and demographic challenges. Greater economic affluence, a shocking inflation of the populace together with the growing percentage of elderly all come into the fray, putting pressure on Singapore’s current transportation infrastructure. Controversial to the existing concerns on train disruptions and long bus waiting times, the government has announced plans to increase the use of public transport. Least to mention, a key initiative to make townships a place for work, live and play has highlighted importance on the need to develop a sound public transport network at an intra town level.

Hypothesizing that Singapore’s current intra town public transportation model is not comprehensive enough to meet commuters’ demands; this dissertation works toward creating a multi-modal public transportation model by inventing and adopting new public transportation modes within Singapore’s townships. It begins by analyzing the shortfalls of the current intra town transport modes and researches on transport alternatives adopted elsewhere in the world. Research methodologies are thereafter done to select the two most feasible alternative modes of transport to be recommended for implementation.

The three rounds of research methodologies involve a modal feasibility evaluation matrix analysis, cost analysis, and survey analysis. It is found that the two most feasible alternative modes for intra town public transportation are the Personal Rapid Transit and Navia Electric Shuttle. In conclusion to the paper, a model involving the two modes is designed and incorporated into the upcoming town of Bidadari, explaining how commuters can travel to and fro their destinations within a township. Limitations of the paper include utilizing secondary sources for most parts of it except the survey questionnaire, having a small sample size of a hundred respondents and conducting modal feasibility evaluation matrix by a single person. Also, cost information attained from foreign countries and projects may not be fully reliable and accurate even if the same modal system is implemented in Singapore.