Moving people in a city-state : a study of transport mobility in Singapore

Abstract

Increased wealth among Singaporeans has increased desire for car ownership. In a small city state like Singapore, there is a limit to the amount of land which can be allocated for road expansion. As public transportation uses road spaces more efficiently than cars, a more sustainable solution to the urban mobility problem is to increase public transport usage. This dissertation provides a comparative analysis of the public transport systems between Singapore and Sydney, and proposes recommendations to enhance the efficiency of Singapore’s public transport system. The study showed that the charging of additional fares imposes financial penalties on commuters for using more efficient premium bus services, which defeated the purpose of distance-based fares to encourage more efficient commuting patterns. It revealed that such services should command the same fares as basic bus services. The study also revealed significant differences in commuting time between journeys made in public transport and cars, which could be minimised by consolidating of transfers through designating transfer stops, and converting some stops of services running along stretches which were also served by other services to alighting only. The analysis of public transport route maps also revealed some shortcomings such as residential areas not served by public transport, circuitous bus routes and the lack of connections to key transport hubs. These inadequacies could be remedied through network optimisation, such as the conversion of loop services to bi-directional services by extending the route to another transport interchange, providing new routes to serve areas with low demand, and straightening out of circuitous loops.