Founding PM Lee Kuan Yew once told former Minister for Transport Raymond Lim that leading the Transport portfolio is “a thankless job, but someone here has to do it.”
Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow is the latest “someone” to step forward and take the challenge head-on. In an interview with media this week, he outlined several bold, refreshing plans to help Singaporeans move around with greater comfort.
“My priority is to focus on the HDB estates that are further away from town and the city,” said Mr Siow, acknowledging the difficulties that many Singaporeans face, waiting for a feeder bus to get to MRT stations, especially during rush-hour.
“It is the walking to the train station, it is the waiting for the feeder buses,” continued Mr Siow. “I think we will be able to narrow the time that it takes [to be] more competitive [compared to] the private car.”
One solution is to introduce self-driving autonomous vehicles (AVs) onto our streets, serving these HDB estates. These AVs will expand the number and frequency of feeder routes available for Singaporeans while reducing the manpower requirements that regular buses demand.
This focuses the government’s resources on strengthening our public transport to the benefit of all Singaporeans.
This is the right use of public resources, and the right approach, but will do little to quell some online commentators who are unhappy about the price of COEs and private cars.
Dispelling the narrative that the rise of private-hire cars (PHCs) has driven up COE prices, Mr Siow noted that the reverse tends to be true.
“If we didn’t have private-hire cars today, a large number of these people will feel that they need to buy a car, and then… they will bid the price of the COE up.”
Indeed, business-owned PHCs made up a small percentage of successful bids for Category A and Category B COEs in recent tenders. That suggests that the bulk of the demand continues to come from individuals.
In 2013, the same year companies like Grab and Uber entered the Singapore market, COE prices peaked at 91k. COE prices then began to dip in the years following, hitting an eight-year low in 2019.
This period of low COE prices coincided with a rapid rise in PHCs. Between 2015 and 2019, the number of PHCs increased nearly threefold, from 29,369 to 77,141.
Ride-hailing services have expanded the pool of private transport available. Before 2013, Singapore had a fleet of 28,000 taxis. Today, we have a much-expanded transport network and over 100,000 PHCs and taxis on our roads.
Many of us remember how difficult it used to be to hail a taxi on the streets before the advent of platforms like Grab or Gojek.
Car-sharing platforms now allow more Singaporeans access to private cars, on an as-needed basis. One COE can now serve a much larger group of Singaporeans by offering the use of a car when they need it.
Together, the latter complement our public transport with an on-demand service which reduces the need for car ownership.
With the rollout of ERP 2.0, the option exists to move to usage-based charging for cars. If so, the number of COEs available could potentially increase, leading to lower COE premiums.
Still, wide-scale private car ownership is not feasible in land-scarce Singapore. We must prioritise making public transport safe, convenient, and fast for all Singaporeans.
That is why Mr Siow wants to boost our transport network to cut travel times and improve first- and last-mile connectivity.
In addition, Mr Siow also laid out his vision in various aspects of transport.
One of which involves the push for more electric vehicles as part of Singapore’s shift towards a green economy. Silent and non-polluting, EVs are a “game changer” for urban design that will allow roads to be built much closer to buildings, noted Mr Siow.
He also highlighted the work that is going into making the MRT network more resilient. Orbital lines can help, by providing alternate routes in the event of breakdown. The upcoming Cross Island Line, which connects to all existing lines except the Circle Line – are critical, added Mr Siow.
Finally, responding to whether there could be more late-night public transport, Mr Siow did not sugarcoat the problems we’re facing.
Besides manpower constraints, rail operators are also need more time for maintenance, even while there are greater demands for extended operating hours, said Mr Siow.
The PAP Government is committed to making the daily commute as painless as possible for all Singaporeans. And we are moving forward in that direction.
“People will have their opinions. It’s fine… But I will try to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. That’s my objective,” he added.
