Public transport in Singapore: an analytical approach to evaluate its problems and alternatives

Singaporeans today depend more on public transport for their travel needs than all other motorised modes combined. Dependence on public transport is projected to increase even further with the completion of additional low cost housing estates at increasing distances from existing activity centres. More than 2.6 Million daily trips will need to be accommodated by Singapore's public transport system after 1990. Currently, 1.6 Million riders are carried daily by Singapore bus services while numerous private operators provide supplementary services for workers and students during peak periods. To aid in the development of a long range comprehensive transport policy and to assess alternative transport investment strategies government initiated the mass transit study. The first phase projected the magnitude of future public transport demands and evaluated the economic viability of large scale investments in alternative mass transit systems. This task called for the development and application of a comprehensive and systematic approach to forecast future travel demands and to provide a reliable assessment of operating costs for each component of the urban transport system. Specifically, the analytical framework had to account for the complex interrelationships and consequences resulting from demands by various transport users upon limited facilities. The second phase of the study evaluated the economic and financial implications of a combined bus rail system and compared it with those of an all bus system. Further analytical refinements were required to assess the implications of alternative fare strategies upon patronage, revenues and operating costs of each component of the bus rail system (a).