New minister, same policy?
What I think our new Transport Minister should prioritise.
In terms of transport policy, this term of government is all about projects. Major projects will be taking place from now until the next General election.
Thus, appointing a civil servant with Transport Ministry experience — furthermore, project development experience — as the next minister is an understandable move.
Acting Minister Jeffrey Siow has a full agenda. Especially if he stays and is eventually confirmed as a full minister.
If anything, much of what I’d like to happen can be summed up by the famous German infrastructure proverb, as popularized by Alon Levy:
Organization before Electronics before Concrete
How so? Remember, it’s all about the projects. Yes, there is just that much going on.
The works
In this term, projects will end, and projects will start. Some are small projects, like Circle Line Stage 6, and some are large projects, like the overall TEL. But both these small and large projects will have outsized impacts on the rail network and public transport connectivity overall.
If anything, during his time in the civil service, Minister Siow himself was part of the team developing the TEL, as part of his responsibilities. Eventually, he had a hand in pushing cross-border rail infrastructure projects as well, like the RTS Link and the now-cancelled HSR. And it wouldn’t be surprising if he was involved in gestating the JRL and CRL as well, with the early planning phases of these projects overlapping with his tenure at the Transport Ministry.
That, I’d think, puts him in a very good position to start new projects. It is very painfully clear that we need to build. And we need to build quickly. Thus, within this term of government, I’d like to see us complete design, and at least enter procurement, for the next bound of rail expansion — the Seletar and Tengah Lines, and the JRL’s West Coast Extension.
Who’s going to do that work at the working level? Projects will also finish. In this term, we will not only have CCL6 and TEL. We will also have the main JRL. And if we’re lucky, we might even be able to get CRL Phase 1 open before the next general election, due by 2030. If anything, initiatives here may be useful to reduce the paperwork and bureaucratic workload and catch up on delays to these projects. That will also free up LTA and contractor manpower to move on to the next big things.
Land transport projects, while grand in scope and price tag, aren’t the only major projects the Transport Ministry will do. Work has started on Changi Airport T5, where the “tempo” of work is expected to “peak” in 2029. Tuas Port will also keep on keeping on doing its thing, adding port capacity in its corner of Singapore and improving our connections to the rest of the world. With 18 berths planned by 2027, there may be a good time to move Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, and Brani ports to Tuas too.
This is a land transport blog, so I digress. Getting those done quickly is also a good thing, but one might say it isn’t as pressing.
Electronics before Concrete
That said, not all projects are building projects that involve digging and large amounts of concrete.
Arguably the projects that the LTA has had the most egg on their faces are their electronics projects. I’ve written plenty about what needs to be done. So the second thing I’d like to see is to do something about them.
Done well, account based ticketing will be able to significantly and drastically reduce the bureaucracy with using the public transport system, making it far more accessible to everyone than locking money in stored value cards. Not only that, there are many new possibilities that can be unlocked with such a system.
There unfortunately doesn’t seem to be much movement — though yes, SimplyGo accepts AMEX now — and regrettably, under Minister Chee, the LTA took a complete about-turn on the project, buying a few more years for the old technology. It’s a lot of potential that remains yet unused; while the last technical obstacles are ironed out, the ecosystem too must be built out to drive adoption, and I’ve listed some ways it can be done.
The other major electronics project, ERP 2.0, must happen in its final form as well. With satellite-based tolling planned to be implemented by 2026, it is highly imperative we find a way to shift subsequently to distance-based charging. Furthermore, an effort must also be made to address the pain points of ERP 2.0 — to increase the usage of backend payment services and thus allow tighter integration with cars.
It’s important to get it right. Yes, Govtech seems to think they’re smarter than the LTA and have been working on their own parallel system based off surveillance cameras and license plate recognition. The Transport Ministry must prove why we need this far more complicated technology, by implementing policies that can shift the burden of payment from car ownership to car use by using ERP 2.0’s full set of features.
Finally, to increase the public acceptability of trains, there must be more data. Next train information, including waiting times, passenger load information, and timely lift availability information, if not online timetables for public transport services, must be made available. This can itself be a major enough electronics project, with upgrading to be made to MRT lines. Bus electronics are already being upgraded, and it will only do justice to the billions we invest in rail expansion if it gets the same treatment.
Organization before Electronics
More importantly, these projects enable better organization. And there is thus a very strong need for reform.
Another thing Minister Siow has on his MOT resume is the implementation of bus contracting. Arguably, a lot has changed in the nine years since the implementation. Many of the lofty goals initially proposed may no longer be attainable; if anything, as the major rail infrastructure projects take place, we must take a pause and ask just what do we expect out of our bus network.
There is also a case to consider for those who don’t take public transport as well. We’ll need transport capacity to manage the perennial issue of workers on lorries, or school children getting to class in the morning. Policy consolidation should take place to make sure every mode of transport has its role to play.
Similarly, we don’t just want people to ride; walking and cycling play a role in driving public transport use as well; predominantly walking. Yes, we will need more support for these modes. Yes, that means building out more walkable realms and pedestrian connections. It also means policy consolidation in the active mobility regime too, to drive more use of active mobility to connect to rail stations.
But we must also recognize that the public realm is built by more than the LTA, despite its own efforts with Friendly Streets.
Other faces to look at are not only Minister Chee Hong Tat, who now helms the Ministry of National Development; the MND, though URA, HDB, and NParks, will be a key player in how we can build a car-lite urban society, with their control over the built environment. Minister Chan Chun Sing, appointed Coordinating Minister for Public Services, will also have plenty to say with the direction of our land transport.
A case study of the challenges that will face ministers new and old can be found at Bencoolen Street. Sure, there are some people who definitely have a problem that the bus-only section of Bencoolen Street was quietly shortened, with the resulting ramifications. But I think two things must be considered. Firstly, well, there’s a train station below, which was what sparked the whole idea of road dieting that area. So who’s still taking the bus, and why?
Second, who’s still driving along Bencoolen Street, and why? The only possible place you can go from there is up towards Orchard Road. And as long as people can drive along Orchard Road, they’ll force themselves down Bencoolen Street. Can we, then, stop people driving on Orchard Road? Plans for pedestrianization of the Dhoby Ghaut precinct, announced in 2022, haven’t really gone anywhere. Perhaps we need to try, and whether this happens will be a test of how much our political leaders are committed to a car-lite vision.
And even with Bencoolen Street itself, there must be a case made to help people understand why it failed; and whether the surface treatments here could end up being counterproductive in the long run. We will have to make changes for future projects, but it’s important to make the right treatments.
The lessons learnt from here, while technically an infrastructure project, I suspect will teach us a lot more about the organizational issues that we face.
The time to not just do
Almost everything that can be said, has been said. It’s easy to point out the problems, less easy to offer solutions; but the hardest thing, and what members of the public like me can’t do, is to execute. To deliver projects and adapt policy to go with it.
A key focus of this ministry should be improving public acceptability of not only the projects themselves, but also the new possibilities and accompanying policy reforms that these projects will enable.
The Cross Island Line, for one, will inject so much capacity and so significantly speed up public transport travel time, that it will once again make sense to attempt to convert car riders into public transport riders.
Only when these projects deliver will we be able to have a more sustainable mix of policies to balance the aspirations of owning private vehicles against the greater good of a car-lite society. We may then, at that point, be able to institute some kind of escape valve for public transport discontent. That will eventually help square the circle between those who want the convenience of a personal vehicle, and the need to provide cost-effective public services.
And finally, only then, can something really be done about managing the contribution of transport spending to the rising cost of living; to balance the need for manpower against the best ways to get people around quickly.
Among the many other problems that our land transport system faces.
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