Issues face in using public transport in Singapore

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Table of ContentsSummary......................................................2

Introduction.................................................3

Background..................................................3

Purpose.....................................................3

Scope.......................................................3

Method of Investigation.....................................4

Common issues that commuters face in using public transport inSingapore, overseas measures and analysis of these measures. .5

Common issues that commuters face in using public transport in Singapore................................................5

overcrowding..............................................5

long waiting time.........................................5

lack of particular transportation means for senior citizens..................................................5

high fares................................................5

lack of night service....................................6

Implementation and analysis of measures that enhance public transport in other cities...................................5

Measures in Tokyo, Japan and analysis of these measures...6

Measures in Beijing, China and analysis of these measures. 7

Measures in London, UK and analysis of these measures.....8

Conclusion..................................................10

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Recommendations.............................................11

Reference List..............................................12

Research Portfolio..........................................13

Summary

This report provides an overall idea about the common

issues that commuters face in using public transport in

Singapore, shows the findings on overseas measures which

have enhanced public transport and analysis how

applicable these measures are to Singapore’s context.

Common issues including the five parts, overcrowding,

long waiting time, lack of particular transportation

means for senior citizens, high fares, and lack of night

service. Three parts on the implementation and analysis

of overseas measures, namely measures in Tokyo, Japan and

analysis of these measures, measures in Beijing, China

and analysis of these measures, and measures in London,

UK and analysis of these measures.

This report also provides recommendations on how to solve

current problems to enhance the public transport system

in Singapore and also attract more commuters.

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1. Introduction

1.1. Background

The Public Transport in Singapore consists of over

24,000 taxis, more than 2,700 buses and over 800 SMRT.

However, as the rapid development and population

growth, problems appeared when people using public

transport system. Problems such as long waiting time,

overcrowding have brought much inconvenience for

commuters.

In order to provide people better service and ensure

good mobility, Public Transport Council should find

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ways to build a more efficient public transport system

which can offer reliable, accessible, punctual and

comfortable transportation modes for everyone.

Therefore, this report was commissioned by the Public

Transport Council to promote public transport and

enhance measures to build a more efficient system.

1.2. Purpose

The objectives of the report are to research on the

problems that commuters face in using public transport

in Singapore, compare to other cities such as Tokyo,

Beijing and London, analyse the effective measures

which can be used in Singapore’s context and recommend

strategies to attract more people to ride public

transport.

1.3. Scope

This report covers the followings:

Problems that commuters face in using public

transport in Singapore.

Analysis of overseas measures on the quality of

services, facilities, and the fares of public

transport system in Tokyo, Beijing and London.

Recommendations on how to overcome current

deficiencies and enhance the public transport

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system in Singapore and also attract more

commuters.

It does not cover the benefits of using public

transport.

1.4. Method of Investigation

The information for this report was obtained from

newspaper articles and websites on public transport.

Information was evaluated for relevance and

reliability.

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2. Common issues that commuters face in using public transport in Singapore, overseas measures and analysis of these measures

2.1. Common issues that commuters face in using public transport in Singapore

2.1.1. Overcrowding

Overcrowding is the most prevalent problem when

people taking public transport. Buses and SMRTs are

always full of people during peak hours. Some of the

commuters have to wait for several turns in order to

get on a bus or a train. It has brought

inconvenience to passengers especially for those who

have to reach school or company punctually.

Passengers would also feel uncomfortable in

overcrowded environment and could not enjoy the

ride.

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2.1.2. Long waiting time

According to the Land Transport Review Study (2008),

only 35% buses run at intervals of 10 minutes or

less. That is, the frequency for most of the buses

is more than 10 minutes or cannot be guaranteed

within 10 minutes. Commuters have to reach the

station as early as possible because of the

uncertain arrival time. This has led to much

inconvenience for commuters. Many passengers

complain about the problem and urge the need for

action to improve frequency of service. STOMPer i

luv (2010,December 20) post “ I was shocked to see

the estimated arrival time (ETA) for bus 61 was 32

minutes. It seems a few months ago, the ETA for the

same bus was as long as 63 minutes.”

2.1.3. Lack of particular transportation means

for senior citizens

For the senior who cannot act easily, it is not so

convenient for them to take normal public

transportation vehicles. Some of the senior who

equipped with wheelchairs are hard to get on the

vehicles such as bus and taxis. This has brought

inconvenience for senior citizens when going out.

Public Transportation Council should come out with

good solution to guarantee good mobility of the

senior.8

2.1.4. High fares

Singapore public transportation implements distance-

based fares. Major Transport Issues (2010) stated

that “For prices of Certificates of Entitlement

(COEs), observers say they will continue to climb in

2011.” In Major Transport Issues (2010), “Dr Lim Wee

Kiak, chairman of Government Parliamentary Committee

for Transport, clarify that for long trips it

becomes a little bit more expensive while for short

trips, when you need to make a lot of transfers, it

actually becomes cheaper.” However, passengers still

complaining they were paying more than previously.

2.1.5. Lack of night service

Public transportation service in Singapore is

limited during the night. This has brought much

inconvenience for citizens, especially for those who

work on night shifts or get off work late at night.

2.2. Implementation and analysis of measures that

enhance public transport in other cities

2.2.1. Measures in Tokyo, Japan and analysis of

these measures

Trams in Tokyo are characterized by using special

compartments. For example, women-only compartment is

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used to prevent physical contact caused by

congestion during rush hours. Other special

compartments provided such as compartments with

weaker or stronger air-conditioning.

Using of special compartments in Singapore public

transportation is an applicable. It would provide

superb service to satisfy different needs of

passengers. This measure is relatively easier to

achieve without requiring much changes of public

transportation system and also require less fund to

operate. Implementation of particular measures is

necessary for women passengers and also senior

passengers who are sensitive to cold. In this way,

passengers would feel more comfortable when taking

public transportation. It is a good way to improve

the service and attract more commuters to use public

transport.

Tokyo provides special cars for the senior. These

vehicles have two things in common: the door is

installed with mobile lifts for the elderly to ride

wheelchair; these cars have special fixtures

installed to protect the elderly from bumps and

crash. There are various types of these kinds of

special cars which including buses, minibuses, taxis

and minivans. This makes it possible for the senior

to ride public transport conveniently and safely.

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As the population of Singapore is becoming aging, it

is necessary to implement this method immediately to

seek welfare for the senior. This method requires

financial support but to ensure the safety and

convenience of senior passengers is very important.

Public transportation should provide comprehensive

service that takes into account the need of every

commuter. This measure would help attract more

senior passengers to take public transportation. It

would simultaneously guarantee good mobility of

senior citizens.

2.2.2. Measures in Beijing, China and analysis of

these measures

The fares for public transport in Beijing are cheap.

They charge a flat fare of ¥1 for all normal buses.

Commuters with concession card only need to pay 0.4

yuan. Student can apply for a student card, with

which are offered 0.2 yuan for a single trip. Only a

few special buses which operate long-distance

service to the outskirts of Beijing are charged by

the meter. The subway fare is ¥2 for a single trip

regardless the travelling distance. Beijing public

transport serves comfortable traveling at very low

costs.

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By using this method, the expense people spent on

public transport in Beijing is relatively lower

compared with Singapore. It becomes an advantage in

attracting more commuters to take public transport

as their primary transportation modes. However,

implementation of low standard fare in Singapore

public transport is not quite suitable. It is not a

sustainable way because the transportation companies

would be rarely profitable and the employees would

complain. In addition, as the problem of

overcrowding is getting worse, especially in peak

hours, making good use of the difference in fares

can effectively regulate passenger flow volume.

Fares can be variable of different time periods. For

example, during peak period charges higher fares,

off-peak period charges lower fares. Therefore, it

can decrease the flow of passengers in peak hours.

The bus system in Beijing is known as its high

frequency service. The government funded a lot to

enhance the transportation facilities and also build

numerous overpasses and underpasses to ensure less

traffic jam happen. Almost all the buses are

guarantee to run at intervals of 5 minutes or less.

Bus302 even run 3 buses at intervals of 1 minute

during peak hour.

It is a bit hard for Singapore to put much manpower

and money in public transportation system. It is not12

necessary to increase the frequency to the level in

Beijing, but to make sure all the buses run at

intervals of reasonable time is essential. Singapore

government should fund to help enhance bus operation

and to construct a more efficient and reliable system

for commuters.

2.2.3. Measures in London, UK and analysis of

these measures

A variety of travel passes are available in London

including One-Day Pass, One-Day(Off Peak) Pass,

Seven-Day Pass, One-Month Pass, and One-Year Pass.

All the passes allow unlimited use on all London

underground, buses, trams, light rail and over-

ground trains within all zones in the city .

To provide more kinds of travel passes is an

applicable method for Singapore. In this way,

people would have more choices to pick the most

suitable travel pass according to their needs. In

addition, as the problem of overcrowding in

Singapore public transport is getting worse,

especially in peak hours, making good use of the

different travel passes can effectively regulate

passenger flow volume. Fares are variable of

different time periods. For example, One-Day Pass

charges higher fares, One-Day(Off Peak) Pass charges13

lower fares. Therefore, it can decrease the flow of

passengers in peak hours.

Night Buses continue service during period between

the close of the underground and the start of

daytime bus services. In addition, many London bus

routes run for 24 hours.

Compared with Singapore, the public transport system

in London develops more comprehensive with night

buses service. Night service is applicable and

essential to Singapore. It would require more

manpower. However, it is reasonable to increase the

fares a little more than the day-time service.

Implementation of this method would bring much

convenient for citizens especially for those who

work on night shifts or get off work late at night.

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3. Conclusion

Based on the research findings, it can be seen that the

current public transportation system in Singapore have

deficiencies existed which bring commuters much

inconvenience. Main problems that commuters face

including overcrowding, long waiting time, lack of

particular transportation means for senior citizens, high

fares, and lack of night service. While research on some

overseas measures and analysis how applicable these

measures are to Singapore’s context.

Based on the findings and analysis on these overseas

measures, it can be seen that some of the measures are

applicable to Singapore. Measures like using special

compartments in public transportation and providing

special cars for the senior can be implemented in

Singapore to improve quality of service. However, measure15

like implementation of low standard fare is not quite

suitable for Singapore as a sustainable way. To increase

the bus frequency to the level in Beijing is also not

quite applicable as much manpower and money is required.

To provide more kinds of travel passes is an applicable

method for Singapore. This method provides more choices

for passengers and also can regulate the flow of

passenger of different time period. Night service is

applicable and essential for Singapore to guarantee the

mobility of citizens during the night.

4. Recommendations

Based on the conclusion above, I would like to make the

following recommendations to overcome the current

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deficiencies in Singapore public transport and also

attract more commuters.

Government should raise funds to update the

transportation facilities and reconstruct

highways, overpasses, underpasses as a premise to

build a efficient and reliable system.

Implement suitable measures like using special

compartments in public transportation and

providing special cars for the senior to improve

quality of service. Increase the bus frequency to

make the system reliable and efficient for

commuter to use. Provide more kinds of travel

passes to give more choices for passengers and

also regulate the flow of passenger of different

time period. To start night service to guarantee

the mobility of citizens during the night.

Public transportation needs to do better

arrangement for vehicles operation.

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5. Reference List

Land Transport Review Study.(2008).Retrieved January

4, 2010, from

http://singaporebuspage.wordpress.com/land-

transport-review/public-transport-review-part-1-bus

Major Transport Issues. (2010). Retrieved January

18, 2010, from

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporeloca

lnews/view/1101039/1/.html

STOMPer i luv.(2010,December 20) Arrival time for

bus as long as 63 minutes: Please do something

about this. Retrieved January 18, 2010, from

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/got_s

ervice_or_not/518188/

arrival_time_for_bus_as_long_as_63_minutes_please_do

_something.html

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Research Portfolio

1. What strategies did you use to search for the information sources for your report?

I used Boolean operator when searching for the

information I need. This method actually sort of

include more keywords in my search, making my

results wider but more accurate at the same time.

For example, I choose the keywords Singapore,

transportation, enhance, and measures based on my

topic and combines with the variations Lion city,

transit, improve, strategies. By using Boolean

operators, I get a search phrase “(Singapore OR Lion

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city *) AND (transportation OR transit*) AND

(enhance OR improve *) AND (measures OR strategies

*).”

I also used Google Advanced Search. It provides

Boolean operators automatically. Besides that, I can

customize the search results to the file type,

language, reading level I want.

2. What are some difficulties you faced in searching

for the information sources?

How did you overcome them?

With the use of Boolean operator and also advanced

search engine, the search results narrowed down to

be more specify. It should be efficient for me to

get what I want. However, the results retrieved are

not so relevant. When I search for effective

overseas measures, I always retrieve some basic

information such as introduction for public

transportation in other cities.

I tried to use other search engines as well such as

meta search engine and Yahoo directory. Meta search

engine has minimized the total results compared with

the huge number of results retrieved by Google

Search. It makes me to source the information I

need.

3. How can you be sure that the information sources are

(a) reliable?20

I can ensure that the information sources for my

report is reliable as all the information is

search from authorized websites. I refer to other

sources as well to check whether the information I

found is accurate. I also check the author’s

information on line to make sure he/she is reliable.

(b) relevant?

The information sources for my report is relevant

with my topic. It provides good evidence to help

explain the problems and also effective measures. I

have checked information sources to ensure that it

answers the question well.

4. What are some learning points you have gained from

writing the report?

I have learned to make use of different search engines such

as advanced search option, meta search engine and Yahoo

directory to make effective internet research. I also

learned how to do correct citations in my report.

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