Transport in Singapore
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Transportation in Singapore is mainly road-based. Almost all the nation's roads are sealed, and road transport extends to most of the island. Expressways, rather than trunk roads, play a major part in Singapore's road network.
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[edit] Expressways
The planning, construction and maintenance of the road network is overseen by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), and this extends to expressways in Singapore. These form key transport arteries between the distinct towns and regional centres as laid out in Singapore's urban planning, with the main purpose of allowing vehicles to travel from satellite towns to the city centre and vice-versa in the shortest possible distance. These expressways include:
- Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE)
- Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE)
- Central Expressway (CTE)
- East Coast Parkway (ECP)
- Kranji Expressway (KJE)
- Pan Island Expressway (PIE)
- Seletar Expressway (SLE)
- Tampines Expressway (TPE)
- Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) (under construction)
The influence of expressways on Singapore's transport policy developed shortly after independence during the history of Singapore because of frequent traffic congestion and overcrowding in the Central district. The aim was to encourage residential development in other parts of the island and give residents in these new "satellite towns" a convenient link between their homes and their workplaces (which were mostly situated around the city centre.)
[edit] International transport links
Singapore is linked to Johor, Malaysia via a causeway and the Tuas Second Link, as well as a railway line operated by KTMB of Malaysia. Singapore's Changi Airport, with its three terminals, is one of the most important air hubs in the region. The international airport is situated at the eastern most tip of the main island, and serves 167 cities in 53 countries. When construction of the third terminal is completed in 2008, Changi will be soon also be capable of handling 64 million passengers every year.
[edit] Public transport policies
The policies of the Land Transport Authority are meant to encourage the use of public transport in Singapore. The key aims are to provide an incentive to reside away from the Central district, as well as to reduce air pollution. Singapore has a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rapid Transit (LRT) rail system consisting of five lines. There is also a system of bus routes throughout the island, most of which have air conditioning due to Singapore's tropical climate. Buses without air conditioning are gradually being phased out. A contactless smartcard called the EZ-link card is used to pay bus and MRT fares.
[edit] Sea ports
The Port of Singapore, run by the port operators PSA International (formerly the Port of Singapore Authority) and Jurong Port, is the world's busiest in terms of shipping tonnage handled. 1.04 billion gross tons were handled in the year 2004, crossing the one billion mark for the first time in Singapore’s maritime history. Singapore also emerged as the top port in terms of cargo tonnage handled with 393 million tonnes of cargo in the same year, beating the Port of Rotterdam for the first time in the process.
Singapore is ranked second globally in terms of containerised traffic, with 21.3 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) handled in 2004, and is also the world's busiest hub for transhipment traffic. Additionally, Singapore is the world's largest bunkering hub, with 23.6 million tonnes sold in 2004.
[edit] Air transport
Singapore aims to be Asia's aviation hub chiefly via the promotion of liberal aviation policies in a bid to encourage airlines to commence and to maintain operations here. The aviation industry is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, a statutory board of the Singapore government under the Ministry of Transport.
[edit] Airlines
There are currently has 5 local scheduled service airlines, all of them operating out of Singapore Changi Airport, offering scheduled flights to over 70 cities on 5 continents. The national flag carrier, Singapore Airlines, and its subsidiary, Silkair, operate out of Changi Airport's Terminal 2. Singapore three new budget airlines, Jetstar Asia, Tiger Airways and Valuair, currently operate out of Changi Airport's Terminal 1. These budget carriers began operating from a new budget airline terminal at Changi Airport on 26 March 2006. However, till date, only one airline, Tiger Airways, has chosen to operate at the new Budget Terminal; other budget airlines have cited various reasons for not shifting operations to the new terminal, including accessibility and ease of transfers to connecting flights.
- Jetstar Asia- founded 2004
- Silkair- founded 1976
- Singapore Airlines- founded 1947 (as Malayan Airways)
- Tiger Airways- founded 2003
- Valuair- founded 2004 (has since merged with Jetstar Asia to form OrangeStar)
[edit] Airports
Singapore Changi Airport is a regional aviation hub served by 64 international airlines and is being expanded, after the opening of the Budget Terminal, with the construction of Terminal 3 slated for completion in 2008.
Airports: 9 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1999 est.)
| Airport | ICAO | IATA | Usage | Runway | Length (ft) |
Length (m) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paya Lebar Airbase | WSAP | QPG | Military | Paved | 12400 | 3800 m | Former civilian |
| Seletar Airport | WSSL | XSP | Civilian | Paved | 5300 | 1615 | Non-scheduled flights |
| Sembawang Airbase | WSAG | Military | Paved | 3000 | 914 | ||
| Singapore Changi Airport | WSSS | SIN | Civilian | Paved | 13200 | 4000 | |
| Tengah Airbase | WSAT | TGA | Military | Paved | 8900 | 2713 |
[edit] Heliports
[edit] Land transport
[edit] Cars
Total population: 405,798
[edit] Taxis
Total fleet: about 23,000
All fitted with meters; all air conditioned; all 5-seater unless otherwise stated; about 90% of taxis have radiophones; call booking is done via GPS or digital voice dispatch. Passengers must wear seat belts under law. Most taxis run on diesel fuel.
Daily trips: about 588,632
Taxi companies and vehicle types used:
ComfortDelgro Comfort Taxis (10,692 cabs)
- Hyundai Sonata CRDI (under trial)
- Toyota Crown
- Nissan Cedric
ComfortDelgro CityCab (approx 4,900 cabs)
- Nissan Cedric
- Toyota Crown
- Mercedes Vito 115 CDI (7-seater microbus)
- Mercedes Benz E220 CDI
ComfortDelgro Yellow-Top Cab(1,090 cabs)
- Toyota Crown
- Nissan Cedric
- Toyota LiteAce (5-seater van conversion)
- Mercedes Benz E220 CDI
- Volvo V70, natural gas
- Fiat Panorama 1.4, petrol
SMRT Taxis (approx 3,000 cabs)
- Toyota Crown
- Nissan Cedric
- Mercedes Benz E220 CDI
- Ssangyong Rodius SV270 XDI (7-seater multi-purpose vehicle)
- Carbodies "London Taxi" TX1 (6-seater)
Union Energy Corporation TransCab (1,314 cabs)
- Toyota Crown
Premier Taxis (800 cabs)
- Toyota Crown
- Nissan Cedric
- Mercedes Benz E220 CDI
- Skoda Superb 2.5 V6 TDI
Smart Automobile (approx 600 cabs)
- Toyota Crown
- Mercedes Benz E200 NGT, natural gas/petrol bi-fuel
- Volkswagen Touran 1.9 TDI PD (multi-purpose vehicle)
[edit] Cable car
Singapore's only cable car, the Singapore Cable Car, plies between Mount Faber on the main island of Singapore and the resort island of Sentosa as an alternative means of accessing that tourist attraction.
[edit] Roads
Singapore pioneered the modern use of toll roads to enter the most congested city area with the Singapore Area Licensing Scheme, which has since been replaced with the Electronic Road Pricing, a form of electronic toll collection.
Roads:
- Total length of expressways: 150 km
- Total length of major arterial roads: 575 km
- Total length of collector roads: 405 km
- Total length of local access roads: 2014 km
- Total road length: 3144 km
Singapore has two land links to Malaysia. The Causeway, built in the 1920s to connect Johor Bahru (Johor, Malaysia) to Woodlands in Singapore, carries a road and a railway line. The Tuas Second Link, a bridge further west, was completed in 1996 and links Tuas in Singapore to Tanjung Kupang in Johor (Malaysia).
Ports and harbours: Singapore
Merchant marine:
total: 900 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totalling 23,065,290 GRT/36,393,317 DWT
ships by type: bulk 136, cargo 84, chemical tanker 96, combination bulk 4, combination ore/oil 8, container 186, liquefied gas 41, livestock carrier 3, multi-functional large load carrier 2, petroleum tanker 290, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 5, short-sea/passenger 1, specialised tanker 10, vehicle carrier 32
foreign-owned: Australia 6, China 15, Denmark 32, Germany 18, Greece 12, Hong Kong 31, India 3, Indonesia 33, Japan 58, South Korea 13, Malaysia 31, Monaco 19, Norway 53, Papua New Guinea 1, Philippines 9, Russia 2, Slovenia 1, Sweden 12, Switzerland 5, Taiwan 44, Tanzania 1, Thailand 16, United Kingdom 15, United States 1
registered in other countries: 383 (2003 est.)
note: a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 22 countries among which are Japan 41, Denmark 35, Sweden 28, Thailand 28, Hong Kong 26, Germany 19, Taiwan 19, and Indonesia 11 (1998 est.)
PSA Singapore's Container facilities includes:
- Container berths: 37
- Quay length: 10,314 m
- Area: 3.39 km²
- Max draft: 15 m
- Quay cranes: 112
- Designed capacity: 20,000 kTEU
Five new berths at Pasir Panjang Container Terminal is now under construction, and the resulting figures will stand at:
- Container berths: 42
- Quay length: 12,014 m
- Area: 4.02 km²
- Maximum draft: 15 m
- Quay cranes: 132
- Designed capacity: 24,000 kTEU
Jurong Port's facilities include:
- Berths: 23
- Berth length: 4,545 m
- Maximum vessel draft: 16 m
- Maximum vessel size: 150,000 dwt
- Area: 1.2 km² (Free Trade Zone), 320,000 m² (non-Free Trade Zone)
- Warehouse facilities: 280,000 m²
| Port | Operator | Type | Berths | Quay length (m) |
Quay cranes | Area (m²) |
Capacity (kTEUs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brani (BT) | PSA | Container | 9 | ||||
| Cosco-PSA (CPT) | Cosco/PSA | Container | 2 | 720 | 228,000 | >1 million | |
| Jurong | JTC | Multi-Purpose | 23 | 4,547 | 1,520,000 | ||
| Keppel (KT) | PSA | Container | 14 | ||||
| Pasir Panjang (PPT) | PSA | Container | 9 | ||||
| Pasir Panjang Wharves | PSA | General | |||||
| Sembawang | PSA | General | |||||
| Tanjong Pagar (TPT) | PSA | Container | 8 |
[edit] Public transport
Public transport in Singapore covers a variety of transport modes such as bus, rail and taxi and is widely utilised by her population. This is a result of great emphasis by the Government of Singapore in order to promote its use over private transport. About five million trips are made on a daily basis on the public transport system and at least half of its population utilises it daily.
[edit] Widespread
The public transport system is the most important means of transportation to work and to school for Singaporeans. About 52.4% of Singaporean residents (excluding foreigners) goes to work using public transport according to the Singapore Census of Population 2000 [1], with 41.6% using private transport and the remaining 6.1% not requiring any form of transportation. Amongst school-going residents, 41.5% of them goes to school by public transport, 24.9% by private transport, and a further 30.1% do not require any form of transportation at all.
A slight dip has been noted in the number of Singaporeans and permanent residents using public transport compared to 1990, which had 55.0% and 46.3% of them going to work and to school respectively. The government aims to reverse this trend such that the total average number of commuters on public transport rises above 75% of all trips made.
[edit] Buses
- Routes: 217
- Fleet: More than 2,700
- Daily trips: 2.34 million passenger trips
- Routes: 76 (57 trunk, 19 feeder)
- Fleet: 813
- Daily Trips: 661,595 passenger trips
[edit] Rail
Railways: 38.6 km, narrow gauge, 1.000 m. The island rail's terminal at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is linked to the Malaysian rail network KTM across the 1.2 km causeway to Johor Bahru on the Malay Peninsula. It connects with Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is a standard gauge system with a total rail network length of 109 km and 67 stations. There are three main lines running at present: the North South Line, the East West Line (both operated by SMRT Corporation), and the North East Line (operated by SBS Transit). A new Circle Line is slated for completion in 2010 and will be opened in phases as various stations are completed.
In 1998, a 7.8 km-Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system with 14 stations was introduced in Bukit Panjang. The Sengkang LRT Line, a 10.7 km light rail line was opened in 2003; a third LRT line, Punggol LRT Line, was opened in 2005 Jan with the East Loop of the system serving the residence in Punggol.
A 2.1km "Sentosa Express" monorail built by Hitachi Asia Ltd will open in 2007, linking Sentosa island to mainland Singapore.
[edit] Public transport regulation
The public transport system is regulated by the Land Transport Authority, who overseas the three main modes of public transportation. Fare regulation and bus service standards are under the purview of an independent body, the Public Transport Council, while TransitLink, established by SBS Transit, SMRT Trains and SMRT Buses, helps to create an integrated multi-modal system with a common fare-payment mode, information platform, and a physical network without duplication of services.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Singapore Ministry of Transport
- A local Wikipedia on Singaporean buses
- Transport sector's highs and lows in year 2005
- LTA public transport
- White Paper on a World Class Land Transport System
- Public Transport Council
- Transitlink
