Govt-run public transport would avoid conflict of interest

Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament, including the Opposition, have commented that Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, who is leaving politics, has done his best and that the continuing failures of the MRT are not entirely his fault.

It has always perturbed me that private operators are running public transport in Singapore.

SMRT Corporation will always have the daunting and contradictory tasks of keeping fares highly affordable, spending more to maintain the ageing system and keeping its balance sheet healthy.

To improve the public transport system, S$1.1 billion of taxpayers’ money has been used to fund buses, although SMRT continues to pay dividends to its shareholders, including foreign investors.

To make the system viable and reliable, it must be owned, run and funded by the state. It would be inconceivable, for example, to let private operators run public hospitals or allow private developers to manage the Housing and Development Board.

Until public transport is nationalised, there would be conflicting agendas and issues, and the Transport Minister’s portfolio will remain a poisoned chalice.