Transport

Making Singapore more liveable – Better convenience and connectivity

We have pressed on with efforts to make Singapore more liveable through the Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP) 2040. Core to this vision is our car-lite strategy, where Walk, Cycle, Ride are the main modes of transport. Many participants in the Forward Singapore exercise supported this strategy as the right direction to meet commuting needs sustainably, given land and carbon constraints.

Advancing with Walk, Cycle, Ride

Key to our car-lite strategy is to have 20-minute towns within a 45-minute city. This means that the public can walk, cycle, or ride to the nearest neighbourhood centre within 20 minutes, and complete most peak-period journeys between their homes and workplaces within 45 minutes. In 2023:

• 92% of residents could reach their nearest neighbourhood centre within 20 minutes.

• 67% of residents could commute to work within 45 minutes on Walk-Cycle-Ride (WCR) modes during peak periods.

We also expanded public transport connectivity. The opening of Stage 4 of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) in June 2024 shortened travel times to the east by up to 50%. Works are ongoing for subsequent stages of the TEL, extensions for the Circle Line, Downtown Line, and North East Line, as well as the upcoming Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line.

Quality public transport, accessible to all

Quality transport services

Commuter satisfaction with public transport remained high over the last five years.

Rail reliability remains a top priority. Since 2019, our MRT network has achieved and maintained our target of 1 million Mean Kilometres Between Failure, which indicates the average distance trains travel before experiencing a delay of more than five minutes. We renewed our lines progressively to ensure they remained safe, reliable, and efficient. In 2023, we completed a decade-long programme to renew and upgrade the six core systems of the North-South and East-West Lines.

Public buses continue to play an essential role in our public transport system, providing residents with convenient access to major transport nodes, complementing the rail network with alternative travel options, and serving as a primary mode of daily commute for some.

Feature Story: Enhancing travel experiences for our commuters

As the pace of housing development picks up, we are seeing an increase in demand for bus services. To keep public transport accessible and attractive for all commuters across new and existing estates, the Government will invest up to an additional $900 million over the next eight years to progressively enhance our public bus network through the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme:

• We will bring forward the launch of bus services in new towns to serve early batches of residents moving into the estates. The first of such services was launched in September 2024, benefitting residents of new and upcoming Build-To-Order flat developments in Yishun East. We will also introduce new express feeder services to enhance connectivity to major transport nodes, especially for residents in new estates located farther away from town centres.

• From October 2024, residents can access more peak-hour express bus services as an alternative option, to complement busier MRT lines. This includes the new City Direct Service introduced in Punggol to provide a direct route to the city.

We will continue to review our bus network according to ridership demand and needs.

Keeping public transport fares affordable

Driven by sustained increases in global energy prices, inflation, and wage growth, the cost of operating public transport rose significantly in recent years. In 2024, the Public Transport Council (PTC) granted a fare increase of 6.0%, lower than the maximum allowable quantum of 18.9%. To cover the cost of the deferred fare quantum, the Government will provide $250 million in additional subsidies in the coming year, on top of the more than $2 billion annual public transport subsidies to keep bus and train services running. PTC continues to strike a careful balance between the need to keep fares affordable and ensuring that our public transport system remains financially sustainable.

We also introduced targeted support for those with greater needs. This included:

• Discounted monthly passes under the Workfare Transport Concession Scheme in December 2023.

• Up to 10% lower concession pass prices [PNG, 359KB] for students, seniors, full-time national servicemen, and persons with disabilities in December 2023.

• Public Transport Vouchers for lower-income households.

Among lower-income households, spending on public transport as a proportion of household income remained at around 2.4% in the last five years.

Read more: Family | Retirement | Social Safety Nets

Encouraging walking and cycling, towards a more active lifestyle

We enhanced infrastructure to facilitate walking and cycling to amenities and public transport nodes. Singapore’s cycling path network was expanded from 507 kilometres (km) to over 600 km between 2022 and 2024, and is targeted to reach 1,300 km by 2030.

From 2024, we have set aside $1 billion over the next decade to expand the Friendly Streets initiative and enhance commuter infrastructure such as covered linkways, elderly-friendly bus stops, and retrofitting more pedestrian overhead bridges with lifts. These improvements, which are co-created with the community, will encourage residents to lead more active lifestyles by making walking and cycling safer, more convenient, and comfortable.

To further enhance the WCR experience, we worked with stakeholders to redesign surface streets along the North-South Corridor for WCR uses.

Feature Story: Designing the North-South Corridor (NSC) as a multi-modal transportation corridor for WCR

The NSC will enhance connectivity from the northern region to the city and has been reimagined to enhance the WCR experience. Since July 2023, we have conducted a series of visioning workshops and collected ideas on how the freed-up surface streets could be repurposed to benefit the community. These include creating versatile spaces that can be easily repurposed for different activities, and making the corridor cooler, safer, and walkable.

We will consider these ideas when developing the NSC’s Surface Streets Master Plan. The repurposing of surface streets will be implemented in stages from 2027.

Promoting safe roads and paths for all

Promoting safe roads and paths for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists continued to be our paramount priority.

Ensuring our transport system meets Singapore’s climate goals

We are committed to reducing land transport emissions to meet Singapore’s net zero target by 2050. In addition to WCR, another key strategy is electrifying our vehicle fleet.

• In the first half of 2024, about one in three newly registered cars was an electric vehicle (EV), as compared to 18% in 2023. Including hybrid car registrations, over 80% of cars registered in the first half of 2024 were cleaner-energy models.

• From December 2024, we will start deploying 360 more electric buses, in addition to the existing 60 buses. With electric buses expected to comprise half of our public bus fleet by 2030, commuters can look forward to quieter and more environmentally friendly journeys.

We are also improving accessibility to charging points to support greater adoption of EVs.

• There were around 14,000 charging points islandwide as at July 2024.

• Around one in two HDB carparks has been equipped with EV chargers. We are on track to deploy EV chargers at every HDB town by end-2025.
  

Read more: Environment and Sustainability

Future-ready transport system

Our transport system is an integral aspect of Singaporeans’ daily lives. We will press on with efforts to enhance liveability, improve connectivity, promote road and path safety, and ensure sustainability in our transport system.

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