Public transport a choice mode

Learnings from Singapore Part 2

Last week's article was about the zero-car growth in Singapore. This restriction is limited to private cars! Which speaks a lot about Singapore's transport policy "to make public transport a choice mode of transport for Singaporeans" (Ministry of Transport website). As simple as that! Compare that to the statement of our Secretary of Transportation last week. "People buy cars not just as a mode of transportation but also as a form of 'social stature' - changing that will be easier said than done." Which explains why we are the Philippines and they are Singapore.

In decreasing car growth in the last decade to "zero" this year, Singapore is determined to increase its public transport mode from 63 percent in 2013 to 67 percent last year, towards its target of 75 percent in 2030. They do this by force, by law, and sheer determination to achieve what's good for everybody, regardless of "social stature." Ours is the reverse because we favor the rich, the elite, and all who can afford to buy cars, even if they represent less than 80 percent of the population. They want the BRT cancelled because the roads are already congested --the private cars might suffer, forgetting that 80 percent of the riding public will be speeding though the BRT dedicated lanes unhampered with fixed frequency for the next 20 years. Minority rules!

Maybe another important takeaway from the Singapore lecture was that the 67 percent of public transport trips in 2017 can be categorized as follows: MRT/LRT, >3 million trips; Bus, >4M trips; and taxis (with Grab, etc.), 1M trips. Surprised? That's true anywhere in the world. Robert Siy of The Manila Times wrote "Even where rail services are plentiful, buses deliver the bulk of public transport trips. In cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and London that have elaborate rail systems, buses still account for around 60 percent of public transport trips compared with about 40 percent by rail."

We have to rethink our outlook of public transportation! At present in Cebu, the debate seems to be about BRT versus LRT. More advanced countries don't argue --depending on the population and the number of trips, they usually have both. And even if they have, there will always be more bus trips than rail. You can try to search around and find a city with more train trips than bus trips. The truth is, people who need to go to work with more than 1 public transit trip usually have a bus as one of them. And many don't take the train. Even in Singapore, London, or Hong Kong. Actually anywhere!

My best learning came from my nine-year old son, Samuel. We let him choose what to ride and most of the time, he said "bus." I was surprised because he LOVES trains, so I asked why he prefers buses. He looks at me and blurts, "I like trains but my feet hurt when we walk too much…" (To be explained next part)