MOT Addendum to the President’s Address

Mr S Iswaran
Minister for Transport

1.     Our air, sea, and land transport sectors have weathered the worst of the pandemic and emerged stronger, due to the close cooperation between the Government, workers, unions, and industry partners. In the next phase, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) will focus on gearing up for growth. We will enhance the competitiveness of our global aviation and maritime hubs by strengthening capabilities and sustainability efforts, and creating opportunities for our enterprises and people. We will build a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive land transport system as part of a liveable city for Singaporeans. 

Securing Singapore as a Sustainable Aviation and Maritime Hub 

2.     Changi Airport’s passenger traffic has recovered to about 80% of pre-COVID levels; passenger traffic is expected to recover fully by 2024. As our anticipated activities return, the Government will work with aviation stakeholders to build up Changi Airport’s operational capacity ahead of demand, and readiness to deal with new threats. 

3.     Singapore’s maritime hub stayed resilient and performed well through the pandemic, maintaining our position as the world’s busiest transhipment hub. We must build on our strengths to respond adroitly to changes in the global economic landscape and disruptions to supply chains. 

Investing in Capacity, Capabilities, and Sustainability 

4.     The Government has planned major expansions in our aviation and maritime infrastructure over the next two decades. We have restarted the Changi Airport Terminal 5 (T5) project, which is targeted to be operational in the mid-2030s. MOT is working with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Changi Airport Group to update the design of T5 to be pandemic-resilient, with greater modularity for flexibility in scaling operations. The new terminal will also be designed for sustainability with energy-efficient features. Tuas Port opened as planned despite the pandemic and is on track to be completed by the 2040s, with an annual handling capacity of 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units. 

5.     Beyond upgrading our infrastructure, MOT will strengthen capabilities in the aviation and maritime sectors through digitalisation and other innovations. To build up our aviation and maritime workforce, we are collaborating with industry partners to reach out to more students, develop work-study programmes, and support job conversions and skills upgrading for mid-career workers. We will also invest in our people by redesigning jobs and deepening skillsets. 

6.     Sustainability is central to the next phase of growth for our aviation and maritime hubs. Both sectors will contribute towards the national target to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. MOT will aim for all airside vehicles at Changi Airport to run on cleaner energy by 2040, and will require all new airside light vehicles, forklifts, and tractors to be electric from 2025 as part of the transition. We will also require all new harbour craft operating in our port waters to be fully electric, capable of using B100 biofuels or compatible with net-zero fuels such as hydrogen from 2030. MOT will also work with the aviation and maritime ecosystems to put the regulatory frameworks, pilots, incentives, and infrastructure in place to facilitate a smooth transition. 

7.     On the global stage, MOT actively supports the efforts of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization to reduce emissions from international transport. We also work with partners to develop sustainable international aviation and maritime ecosystems, such as "green lanes" for flights powered by sustainable aviation fuels as well as green and digital shipping corridors. 

Resilient, Sustainable, and Inclusive Land Transport System 

Public Transport at the Core 

8.     Public transport remains at the heart of our land transport system. Many participants in our Forward Singapore engagements recognised and appreciated the improvements to our public transport system over the last decade, which have made it more accessible, reliable, and inclusive. 

9.     The Government will significantly expand our land transport network over the next decade. We are on course to expand our rail network by a further 100 kilometres; when completed, eight in ten homes will be within a ten-minute walk of an MRT station. Increasing the density of our rail network will make journeys more convenient for commuters, enhance the resilience of the overall system, and contribute significantly towards our net-zero emissions target by encouraging more people to opt for public transport over private vehicles. 

10.    We must also ensure fiscal sustainability, as we invest in building a high-quality, world-class public transport system. Financing public transport is a shared responsibility across the Government, operators, and commuters. We are heartened that participants in our Forward Singapore engagements acknowledged the need for this, while emphasising the importance of affordable public transport fares, especially for the vulnerable and lower-income groups. The Public Transport Council is reviewing the fare adjustment formula and mechanism, to achieve equitable cost distribution across all stakeholders. 

Supporting the Transition to Cleaner Energy Vehicles 

11.    MOT will further encourage the adoption of cleaner-energy vehicles through regulation, incentives, and infrastructure. We have established clear regulatory milestones: to disallow registration of diesel cars and taxis from 2025, and Internal Combustion Engine cars and taxis from 2030. We will review financial incentives to encourage the adoption of electric cars, and monitor related developments in other vehicle segments, such as motorcycles and goods vehicles. We have brought forward the island-wide deployment of Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers, and one in three public housing carparks will have EV charging points by the end of this year, with full coverage by 2025. We remain on track to deploy 60,000 charging points by 2030. 

Inclusive People-friendly Streets 

12.    A central theme that emerged from our Forward Singapore engagements was for our transport system to be more inclusive, especially for seniors and persons with disabilities. 

13.    To make our streets more conducive for pedestrians, we will expand pedestrian-friendly initiatives, such as retrofitting lifts at pedestrian overhead bridges, providing covered linkways, and traffic-calming schemes such as Silver Zones and School Zones. We will work with local stakeholders to pilot Friendly Streets in five neighbourhoods, in areas near key amenities with high pedestrian flow. Features such as wider footpaths, more greenery, barrier-free crossings, and road markings will inform road users that they are in a Friendly Streets zone. Where necessary, we will also implement more direct crossings for pedestrians and reduce waiting times for pedestrians at traffic crossings. 

14.    Friendly Streets will complement the expansion of our network of cycling paths to about 1,300km by 2030. Every town will have cycling paths by 2024; these intra-town paths will aid first and last mile connectivity to the major public transport nodes and key amenities. 

Building for the Future 

15.    We will drive the next bound of growth across our air, sea, and land transport sectors. Together, we will continue to build a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive transport system for all Singaporeans.