Response to the Adjournment Motion “Reaching 75%: Reforming Singapore’s Public Transport System” by Senior Minister of State for Transport and National Development Ms Sun Xueling

Introduction

1.          I thank Mr Louis Chua for sharing his views on how we can encourage more Singaporeans to choose public transport for their peak-period journeys.

2.          Indeed, for land-scarce Singapore, public transport is the most efficient and sustainable way for our people to get to where they live, work, play and study.

3.          We are committed to making mass public transport the preferred mode. Our ambition to achieve 75% peak-period mode share reflects this. We invest heavily in our public transport system, about $2 billion a year on public transport operating costs, on top of much larger sums for infrastructure.

4.          Despite these investments, we do not expect progress to be even. Our city and our people’s travel needs will continue to evolve and change:

a.          The growth of the private hire car industry has provided Singaporeans with more affordable means of point-to-point transport, on a pay-per-use basis.

b.          COVID-19 changed the way people travel and work, and also delayed the completion of some major public transport projects.

c.           We will continue to expand our public transport network to serve homes, workplaces and amenities in new areas.

5.          Despite these changes, our approach is clear: we are focused on improving travel time and convenience, while putting in place the right structures and investments to ensure our public transport remains well-run and sustainable.

Travel time and convenience

6.          Like what Mr Louis Chua mentioned, to make public transport more attractive and increase mode share, we must narrow the gap in travel time between public and private transport.

7.          We know that once commuters are on the rail network, most journeys are fast and reliable. This is why we are growing the rail network from 275km today to about 360km by the early 2030s, with the opening of the Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line.

a.          Just last week, we announced the station locations for Phase 3 of the Cross Island Line. When this is completed, those travelling to and from the West can save up to 50 minutes. 

b.          New lines also strengthen the resilience of our network and help relieve crowding on existing lines, improving the experience for all commuters.

8.          While new lines are being built, we are also providing bus alternatives such as express City Direct Services. We have rolled out 11 new City Direct Services since we started the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme in 2024, in estates like Sengkang, Punggol and Tengah.

9.          Under this programme, we are also improving the first and last mile of journeys. We are providing more skip-stop feeder bus services and bus lanes to bring residents to MRT stations more quickly and reliably.

10.        LTA is also expanding cycling paths and adding more pedestrian-friendly features to make neighbourhoods safer and more comfortable for walking.

Bus Contracting Model

11.        For these plans and programmes to be effective, they must be executed well, and they must be sustainable. We agree with Mr Louis Chua that how we structure our public transport system to deliver well is critical.

12.        Mr Lous Chua has made some suggestions on the Bus Contracting Model. I would like to reiterate some key points around the Bus Contracting Model.

a.          Firstly, competitive tendering ensures that contracts continue to be value-for-money.

b.          Since we transited to tendering out bus packages, service fees paid by the government to the operators have dropped by 15%. This has allowed us to keep the level of subsidies sustainable as we expand and improve bus services.

13.        However, we tender not only to obtain better prices, but also to improve service standards and foster innovation. The contracts are awarded based on a two-envelope evaluation process that considers first, quality and then, price. This approach incentivises operators to deliver reliable and safe bus services, invest in their workforce and capabilities, and also build expertise in emerging areas such as electrification.

a.          So, we should not encourage a race to the bottom, based on price alone. This can cause unnecessary churn that affects day-to-day service quality.

14.        We want to assure Members that our Bus Contracting Model ensures minimum standards but does not stop us from doing better. Mr Louis Chua gave a specific example about wait times for buses.

a.          Before the Bus Contracting Model, the standard was to operate at intervals of 30 minutes or less. 90% of feeders ran at intervals of not more than 10 minutes.

b.          Now, more than half of the bus services run at intervals of 10 minutes or less during peak, exceeding the baseline standard of 15 minutes. Feeder buses run at even shorter intervals of 8 minutes or less.

c.           These are basic standards which operators must plan for and adhere to. We penalise them if they fall short. We can consider Mr Chua’s suggestion to share more data on bus operators’ performance over time.

15.        We must also keep in mind that more competition does not automatically resolve the real constraints we face in resources, manpower and road space.

a.          Along the busiest corridors, we have buses arriving almost every minute.

b.          And as Mr Louis Chua said, we face constraints on the number of bus captains we have, and we have done something concrete about that. We are working with operators to attract more bus captains by raising starting salaries, but this will not change the situation overnight. We must also be mindful that fiercer competition in bus tenders do not inadvertently affect operators’ ability to pay their workers fairly.

16.        At this point, I’d like to thank Mr Chua for his support for our vision to deploy more autonomous vehicles. We are doing this systematically. We are in the process of building greater public confidence in autonomous vehicles. Safety must be our number one priority. We are also increasing socialisation amongst drivers, amongst members of the public, and amongst commuters. We welcome Mr Chua to come by Punggol to trial the AV shuttles if he has not done so. We are also working towards the AV Act, which will scope out some of the considerations and questions that he has raised. We also hope that with the use of autonomous vehicles, we could manage some of the manpower constraints that we have around, drivers as well as bus captains.

17.        Now, coming back again to the bus sector, we do need to prioritise resources to areas with more urgent needs, and to adjust services in response to ridership.

Rail Industry Structure

18.        Mr Louis Chua had some suggestions on rail. He suggested moving towards a single, publicly-owned national operator. There are different rail industry models around the world, each with its own strengths and trade-offs.

19.        In Singapore, we have continued to refine our rail industry model where it makes sense to do so.

a.          The New Rail Financing Framework consolidated asset ownership under the Government, which enabled us to take a long-term view of asset renewal, drive common standards, and coordinate investments across the rail network.

b.          Meanwhile, platforms like the Rail Reliability Taskforce brought our two operators together with LTA, while also engaging international experts from other metro systems to share good practices and overcome common challenges.

c.           We are implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce and will provide more updates along the way.

20.        Mr Louis Chua has cited examples of overseas metros. LTA and our rail operators maintain good relationships with these peer systems, and many others. These systems operate under different institutional and financing arrangements. We can learn from them without necessarily adopting their model wholesale.

a.          The reality is that different sectors may require different approaches. Mr Chua himself acknowledges this.

b.          This reflects the fact that different industry structure involves different trade-offs, which must be carefully balanced and managed.

21.        Ultimately, the question is not what industry model we have. Rather, the test is whether we are able to operate our network to deliver good service.

a.          We have achieved and maintained high rail reliability standards, above our one million mean kilometres between failure target.

b.          Our operators have grown their capabilities to manage an expanding network, to provide faster journeys and better connectivity over time.

c.           This is how we encourage commuters to choose public transport over other modes, which is the key thrust of your motion.

Conclusion

22.        Mr Speaker, to summarise: improving public transport is not about one project or one policy. We need both sound planning and sustained investments, supported by the right structures and operating models.

23.        We will continue to improve journey times and connectivity, while ensuring that our public transport system remains well-run and financially sustainable — so that public transport is the travel mode of choice for most Singaporeans.

24.        Thank you.