Constant, steady effort to keep Singapore's public transit humming

FIRST-TIME visitors to Singapore almost always come away impressed by the clean, safe, and efficient transportation system. And while tourists are not always the best judge of a city, in this case they appear to have it right.

According to a new McKinsey report that evaluated 25 major cities*, Singapore's public transit ranked first in safety/environmental impact; first in affordability; first in usage; and third in efficiency and convenience. No other city scored so well in so many categories.

Little wonder, then, that Singaporeans are also pleased: 91 per cent of those surveyed said they were satisfied with their options for getting from Point A to Point B.

Transportation is a kind of urban cardiovascular system that enables the continuous flow of people through its arteries. It's vital for business and, if it clogs up, there are all kinds of bad consequences. In this sense, Singapore is in good health. But there are ways in which it might improve its fitness, by adapting other cities' experience to stay ahead of the pack.

For example, Hong Kong ranks higher in terms of getting people to use public transport, helped by the shortest average distance from underground station to the nearest surface public transport stop. Tokyo sets the pace in terms of using technology to reduce road deaths.

While Singapore is ranked second in public transport efficiency, it lags behind the leader, Moscow, in waiting times. Toronto is ahead in accessibility for the disabled, an area where Singapore has made strides. Seoul has introduced "smart shelter" bus stops that not only protect people from heat and rain, but also provide chargers, hand sanitisers and information.

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Given that public-transport ridership dropped by 39 per cent in Singapore during 2020 due to the pandemic, and that more people expect to use more personal transit in the future, in part because of health concerns, this kind of effort could help to bring people back to buses, and possibly attract new kinds of riders, too.

The only category in which Singapore did not rank highly was "availability" - defined as having a variety of travel-mode options. One area to consider is expansion of bike lanes and bike sharing. The idea is to see it as another form of public transport to be integrated into the overall system, as is happening with ride-hailing operators. As in many cities the initial roll-out of bike-sharing was rocky, and retrenchment was inevitable. However, expanding cycleways is on Singapore's agenda with plans to increase the network from 460 kilometres to 1,300 km by 2030.

And finally, Singapore could make its own excellent case more forcefully. It's interesting that while it holds first place for affordability, with low costs for both taxis and public transport, compared to average monthly income, residents don't appear so sure. Singaporeans are only "neutral" in survey responses on cost, rather than the "very satisfied" they record on most other dimensions. The implication is that their perception is not the same as the reality, and that matters, because it can be a disincentive to use public transport.

EVOLVING CHALLENGES

Transport challenges facing the world's big cities are changing, particularly against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic which caused dramatic declines in usage.

In 2021, Singaporeans have returned to public transport in significant numbers. But post-pandemic patterns are likely to be different, as workers from home return to the office and others test hybrid working models. Transportation officials around the world need to prepare, by understanding how different segments of the population use transit, what they want, and to what extent current options meet their changing needs and expectations.

In a sense, the future of public transit is not just about buses and the MRT but about mobility management - deploying technology and working with the private sector to ensure that there are safe, affordable ways to get around, particularly for areas that are now short of good options.

Singapore is well placed to do just that. It's in good shape now, with its cardiovascular transit system pumping away smoothly.

It also has ongoing plans to expand and renew its rail network with new lines and new stations, highlighted by the August opening of Stage 2 of the Thomson-East Coast line. But keeping up, and improving, its current high level of fitness is a matter of constant, steady application.

• Diaan-Yi Lin is a senior partner in McKinsey & Company's Singapore office. Detlev Mohr is a senior partner in Tokyo and a leader of McKinsey's travel, logistics and infrastructure practice

* Cities surveyed in the McKinsey study: Buenos Aires, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Sao Paulo, and Toronto in the Americas; Berlin, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris, and Saint Petersburg in Europe; Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, and Sydney in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, and Johannesburg in Africa.