Proportion of peak-hour trips made on public transport have gone up

SINGAPORE — A greater share of journeys were made using public transport during peak hours last year, with the proportion edging up to 67 per cent, compared with 64 per cent in 2013.

These figures were revealed in Parliament on Thursday (March 1) by Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Transport.

He was responding to a parliamentary question tabled by Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC, who had asked if Singapore is on its way to realising the Walk Cycle Ride SG goal. The vision is to make walking, cycling and riding public transport a way of life, and the Government has set a target to have, by 2030, 75 per cent of peak-hour trips made using public transport.

Dr Lam said that the proportion of such trips is expected to go up further as more MRT lines are launched. “The increasing use of (personal mobility devices) as a first- and last-mile mode of travel has contributed towards this vision, too,” he added.

Next year, the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line will start service in stages. The Jurong Region Line will be opening in 2025, while the Cross Island Line is due to be completed around 2030.

In a Household Interview Travel Survey done by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in 2012, results showed that peak-hour trips made using public transport was 63 per cent. In 2008, it was 59 per cent.

Responding to Dr Lim’s other questions on bicycle ownership in Singapore and how many people use bicycles as part of their daily commute, Dr Lam quoted the same LTA survey done last year: About a quarter of households here own bicycles, with about 125,000 people using them for their daily commutes.