SINGAPORE: A transport survey in Singapore has shown that
the public transport share has shrunk.
The survey of some 10,500 households revealed that despite efforts
by the authorities to get more people on buses and trains,
challenges still remain.
Singapore aims to boost the usage of public transport among its
population to 70 per cent by 2020. But the Household Interview
Travel Survey showed that the target is now harder to
achieve.
The survey found that 59 per cent of respondents used public
transport last year, down from 63 per cent in 2004.
During the same period, the number of daily public transport
journeys went up by 16 per cent as Singapore's population grew. The
number of car journeys increased by 31 per cent as the car
population also grew.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) explained that this behaviour
could be due to a lack of major infrastructural improvements in
public transport during that period.
Speaking at the Second World Roads Conference on Monday, Transport
Minister Raymond Lim said that there are some positive signs.
He said: "Between 2004 and 2008, the number of train trips made
each day rose 30 per cent, from 1.3 million to 1.7 million. Even
though the public transport mode share island-wide has fallen, the
mode share in the North-East corridor, served by the Northeast Line
(NEL) which opened in 2003, has bucked the trend and shown
significant improvement."
LTA said it will continue to make bus services more efficient and
will be expanding the Mandatory Give-Way to Buses scheme in the
next two years.
LTA said the expansion of normal bus lanes and full-day bus lanes
have already improved bus speeds for services using the routes by
between eight per cent and 13 per cent respectively.
From next year, LTA will also take over as the Bus Network Planner
to further improve the overall connectivity of the bus network
here.
An expert said reliability is key when convincing people to use
public transport.
Professor Brian Collins, chief scientific advisor from UK's
Department of Transport, said: "Making buses punctual, making
trains punctual, and making them more frequent - refining that
predictability of travel time is one of the issues that people
really like. They will like to know when they are going to arrive,
arrive safely and in comfort."
LTA said it will push through two key strategies under its
Masterplan to make public transport more convenient. The strategies
are to reduce the growth of vehicles on the road and double the
existing rail network by 2020.
For now, the introduction of Electronic Road Pricing to more roads
last year has improved the traffic conditions of affected
roads.
LTA said there has been marked improvement in traffic speeds within
the CBD, especially during evening peak hours. Traffic speeds there
have been restored to the optimal range of 20-30 kilometres per
hour, from 18 kilometres per hour previously. - CNA
Is this report telling us, the Ministry of
Transport went asleep for the past 4 years?