EVALUATING DISTRIBUTION OF TRANSIT ACCESSIBILITY: EFFECTS OF POLICY INTERVENTION IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Much of transit accessibility research has focused on investigating the spatial distributions of jobs and homes, and the consequences of a lack of accessibility. However, there have been no studies determining the distribution and proportion of transit accessibility benefits across demographic groups. This paper offers an alternative approach; it assesses the distribution of transit accessibility from the government’s perspective, whose intentions suggest of reducing unequal accessibility. As these benefits are not always equally distributed among the population, this is the first study to compare different levels of accessibility of HDB dwellers to stations across demographic groups, and the effects of possible transportation policy shifts across time. This is done by examining the recent station openings from 2012 to 2017, if additional transit lines have lowered this inequality of transit accessibility.

Results reveal that beneficiaries of previous transportation lines were the newer flats, higher-priced, and larger flats who were found to be 14.5% , 10% and 11% nearer to stations than their counterparts respectively. With the opening of new stations, transit accessibility for treatment group improved by an average of 78%. Effects of new stations are however, not homogenous; the policy shift provided greatest transit accessibility benefits for those in older and smaller flats by 12% and 19% respectively. This has reduced the inequality in accessibility distribution. However, there is insufficient evidence to prove that lower-priced flats have experienced reduced inaccessibility. Still, these findings have important policy implications as the government is in the best position to redistribute transport accessibility to provide more equitable accessibility for different groups. This can lead to better prioritizing of needs and contribute to sustainable transportation projects in the future.