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Singapore Land Transport Masterplan To Double Rail Network by 2020

Source: Government of Singapore
Posted on: 26th October 2009

Minister Raymond Lim said that the Land Transport Masterplan envisaged a doubling of the existing rail network by 2020. There will also be significant capacity enhancement in the existing lines with higher train frequencies. He added that the vehicle population growth rate will be reduced from 3% to 1.5% a year. Raising the public transport mode share to 70% by 2020 is key objective of Land Transport Masterplan

Welcome Address by Mr. Raymond Lim, Mintister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the 2nd World Roads Conference, 26 OCTOBER 2009, Suntec City Convention Centre

Distinguished guests and delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen

I am very pleased to be here with you this morning at the second World Roads Conference. Let me first extend a warm welcome to all of you, especially to our overseas guests.

Sustainable Land Transport Development

Land transport affects the lives of everyone daily. Besides supporting economic growth, it also plays an important social role, by giving people access to facilities and opportunities.  However, land transport also has significant impact on the liveability of the urban environment. As our cities grow and as the world becomes more urbanised, the pressures our transport systems place on the environment will inevitably become greater, and the choices and solutions correspondingly more difficult and complex. That is why the theme of this conference – “Sustainable Land Transport Development” – is so important.

Singapore’s Urban Transport Strategy

Like many major cities around the world, Singapore faces the challenge of meeting the growing mobility needs of our people, while at the same time, ensuring that our urban environment stays liveable.

We are tackling these issues head-on. We have completed a comprehensive review of our land transport strategies early last year and announced our Land Transport Masterplan (LTMP), to guide land transport developments over the next 10 to 15 years.

Our Key Challenge:  Declining Public Transport Mode Share

One of the major challenges that we identified in our land transport review was the declining public transport modal share during the morning peak period which had fallen from 67% in 1997 to 63% in 2004.  Hence, when we announced the Land Transport Masterplan in 2008, a key objective we set for ourselves was to raise the public transport mode share to 70% by the year 2020.

As the same time, LTA embarked on a Household Interview Travel Survey to help give us a more recent and comprehensive data on household travel patterns and insights into travel behaviour in Singapore. This is important as it establishes the baseline for the Land Transport Masterplan, and gives us a more accurate assessment of the magnitude of the land transport challenges.

The 2008 survey showed that travel demand grew by 24% to 11 million journeys daily from 8.9 million in 2004. This is only to be expected as Singapore becomes more economically and socially vibrant.

Public transport (PT) journeys increased by 16%. However, car journeys increased by 31%. The heavier car usage, has led to an overall drop in the public transport mode share from 63% in 2004 to 59% in 2008. The continued downward trend in the public transport mode share affirms the challenge that the Masterplan is addressing, and the measures that we need to take to reverse it.

LTMP’s Strategic, Long-Term Relevance

Let me just highlight two key strategies: investing in our rail network and reducing vehicle growth rate.

Despite the trend of a declining public transport mode share, we found that the MRT remains a very attractive mode of public transport. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of train trips made each day rose 30%, 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.

Our Masterplan envisaged a doubling of the existing rail network by 2020 as well as significant capacity enhancement in our existing lines with higher train frequencies.  By 2020, we will have a much more extensive rail network to link up most parts of Singapore, with a rail density comparable to New York and London today, and the MRT will be even more accessible to more people. In fact, throughout the city area, there will be a MRT station within 5 minutes’ walk.

As part of the Masterplan, we have also reduced the vehicle population growth rate, from 3% to 1.5% a year, and will assess this again in 2012, to see if a further reduction is necessary.  The survey findings have made it clear that we will need to complement improvements in our public transport system with measures to moderate car usage if we are to succeed in reversing the declining public transport mode share.

Early Results

Since the launch of the Masterplan some 18 months ago, LTA has set about delivering the immediate improvements.

For example, the expansion of normal bus lanes and full day bus lanes, have improved bus speeds for the services using these routes by up to 8% and 13% respectively. The tightening of the Quality of Service standards for bus services mean that buses are now more frequent. These have improved the reliability of bus services and reduced the waiting times for bus commuters. These are two key attributes that improve the attractiveness of public transport, and is crucial if we are to attract more people to switch.

Regular public transport commuters would already have felt the difference. In the Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted in 2008, 89.5% of respondents were satisfied with public transport services, an increase of 3 percentage points from 2007.

As we expanded Electronic Road Pricing to more roads last year, the traffic conditions of these roads have improved correspondingly. After the introduction of targeted road pricing measures in the CBD, we have observed a marked improvement in traffic speeds within the CBD, especially during the evening peak hours. From traffic speeds of as low as 18km per hour, we have been able to restore speeds on these roads to the optimal range of 20 to 30 km per hour.

Conclusion

The progress of our Masterplan measures so far, together with the 2008 household survey results, affirm the need for us to stay the course. The Land Transport Masterplan’s overriding goal is to ensure that our people continue to enjoy a high quality urban living environment even as the economy and population grow.

Indeed, this is the aspiration of transport planners around the world. To underscore our commitment to this vision, Singapore will also be hosting the second World Urban Transport Leaders Summit, in conjunction with the World Cities Summit next year. Both events will address how countries and cities can tackle some of the key urban issues of today.

The challenge to improve urban transport systems is an urgent one facing us all. I hope that over the next few days, there will be ample opportunities for us to dialogue and learn from each other’s experiences in our quest for transport solutions.

Let me thank you all again for your contributions and participation here this year. On behalf of everyone involved in organising the conference, I wish you interesting and fruitful discussions. It is now my pleasure to declare this conference open.

Thank you.

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