An Inclusive Public Transport System

Lifts in MRT Stations

Public transport is about connecting people to places safely and efficiently. Ramps, lifts, and barrier-free features such as our tactile guiding system ensure that all commuters, including the elderly, persons with disabilities and families travelling with young children, can use public transport to get around more independently.

These features, together with a caring and gracious commuting culture, make journeys accessible and also enjoyable.

Open strollers, wheelchairs and other Personal Mobility Aids (PMAs)* such as mobility scooters for the elderly are allowed on board public buses and MRT/LRT trains.

Parents can use the stroller restraints on public buses for a safer ride.

* PMAs are devices that provide mobility to people who have difficulties walking. They differ from Personal Mobility Devices, which include kick-scooters, electric scooters, electric unicycles and electric hoverboards.

Tips When Using an Open Stroller, Wheelchair or PMA on Public Transport
Dimension and weight of PMA

Size and Weight

Ensure your open stroller, wheelchair or PMA does not exceed 120cm in length and 70cm in width. The wheelchair or PMA shall also not exceed 150cm in height (measured from the floor to the top of the PMA or the user’s head when seated on PMA, whichever is higher); and the total weight of the wheelchair or PMA together with the user shall not exceed 300kg.

Barrier free bus stops designed for easier boarding

Boarding and Alighting Safely

Today, 98% of our bus stops are barrier-free except for some with site constraints, such as those located at five-foot ways.

Commuters in wheelchairs or on PMAs can board and alight at barrier-free bus stops.

Look for the signage on the bus stop pole at bus stops to check if the bus stop is barrier-free. Alternatively, commuters can also check whether a bus stop is wheelchair-accessible via the MyTransport Mobile App (iOS | Android).

All our MRT and LRT stations in Singapore are barrier-free. To make it even safer, wherever possible, there are rubber gap fillers between trains and platforms to reduce the risk of commuters in wheelchairs, PMAs or with strollers slipping into or getting caught in the gaps.

Station staff and service ambassadors also proactively offer assistance to commuters. If you need help with your wheelchair, PMA or stroller, approach them at the Passenger Service Centres.

Boarding/Exiting the Bus for Strollers, Wheelchairs and PMAs

Commuters with strollers should board from the front door. If your stroller is too large, you may request to board from the rear door. Should the gap between the bus and road kerb be too wide and/or if you face difficulty boarding the bus at the rear door, please seek assistance from the bus captain. The bus captain will also facilitate your fare payment using fare card at the rear door.

Commuters using wheelchairs or PMAs should wait for the bus captain to deploy the ramp at the rear door and assist them in boarding. However, if the bus is already crowded when it arrives or the bus gets crowded due to heavy boarding at the bus stop, the commuter boarding the bus with a stroller shall fold the stroller when requested by the bus captain.

Stroller on bus

Enjoying Your Ride

Use the designated space for wheelchairs, PMAs and open strollers to keep the aisles, stairways, entries and exits unobstructed.

Secure your stroller with the restraints and engage the brakes. When using a wheelchair or PMA, engage the brakes and position your wheelchair or PMA facing the rear of the bus. The passenger in a wheelchair or PMA shall also hold on to the handrails for his/her own safety.

 
More Barrier-Free Access at Taxi Facilities

To make transport more accessible, especially for those in wheelchairs and PMAs, LTA is systematically reviewing our existing taxi stands, and making them barrier-free where possible.

Braille and Tactile for Better Wayfinding
Braille and Tactile for Wayfinding
Starting from Thomson-East Coast Line MRT stations, transiting on the MRT system is easier for the visually impaired with the provision of braille and embossed text on the handrails of public staircases and ramps to aid wayfinding. Signages for public toilets are also provided with braille and embossed text for easy identification.
Hearing Enhancement System

The Hearing Enhancement System (HES) has been installed at the Passenger Service Centres in all Thomson-East Coast Line MRT stations, and will be available in all future MRT stations. All Passenger Service Offices at existing bus interchanges (that are presently undergoing upgrading works) as well as Yishun, Woodlands and Yio Chu Kang interchanges will also be equipped with HES. It helps commuters who wear hearing aids to communicate effectively with station service staff at the Passenger Service Centres/Offices.

Helping Hand Scheme
"May I have a seat please" card

The Helping Hand scheme comprises a set of identifiers to help commuters ask for assistance more conveniently. Commuters can wear the lanyard with a card that best describes their needs. There are three messages under the Helping Hand scheme:

 

1.  “May I have a seat please” initiative

Commuters with non-visible health conditions or disabilities can easily alert the public transport staff and other commuters to offer them  a seat on the public transport. Commuters with short-term or temporary conditions (such as those on medical leave) may request for the “May I have a seat please” sticker.

"This is a wheelchair" card

2.   “This is a wheelchair” initiative

Commuters travelling with a paediatric wheelchair may often be mistaken for using a stroller. This initiative allows them to alert the public transport staff and other commuters that the wheelchair cannot be folded – in the event that the wheelchair space has to be shared with another commuter in wheelchair on the bus. Bus Captains may also facilitate the commute by lowering down the ramp for the wheelchair to board and alight.

"Please alert me when I am approaching my stop" card

3.  “Please alert me when I am approaching my stop” initiative

Bus captains will ask for the commuter’s (e.g. those with low vision or dementia) destination and notify the commuter when nearing his/her destination.

 

These identifiers can be obtained from:

  • Passenger Service Centres at MRT stations;
  • Passenger Service Centres at Bus interchanges; and
  • Selected SimplyGo Ticket Offices located at the following MRT stations (Ang Mo Kio, Chinatown, Clementi, Tampines, Woodlands, Yishun) and Bus Interchanges (Ang Mo Kio, Bedok and Jurong East).
Back of Helping Hand card

The Helping Hand scheme follows positive feedback from LTA’s pilot of the “May I have a seat please” sticker, as well as Go-Ahead Singapore’s subsequent trial. The lanyard designs were adapted from artwork by commuters with disabilities or special needs through an art competition jointly organised by LTA and a youth group, the Movement of Inclusivity.

We hope that commuters can look out for each other and assist those who are wearing the lanyard and cards or stickers. Likewise, for commuters who were offered assistance, showing appreciation will encourage others to be more gracious and caring.

Dementia Go-To Points (GTPs)
Dementia Go To Point

Go-To Points (GTPs) are touch points within the community that serve as resource centres to provide information and useful resources on dementia. Led by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) and community partners, this Dementia-Friendly Singapore initiative will link those who need help with the relevant dementia-related services. GTPs also serve as “safe-return” points where members of the public can bring persons with dementia who may appear lost and are unable to identify themselves or their way home. All public transport nodes are Dementia GTPs.

Should anyone find a lost commuter with dementia, please alert the public transport operator staff who are trained to help the commuter reunite with his/her next-of-kin.

You may refer to the list of Dementia GTPs for more information.

Sign Up as  A Caring Commuter Champion
champion_poster
Caring Commuter Champions is a Volunteer Corps initiated by the Caring SG Commuters Committee. It is led by Public Transport Council (PTC) Chairman and supported by key industry partners including the Land Transport Authority. This initiative encourages commuters to show care and offer assistance to those in need during their daily commute on the public transport network.
Caring Commuter Champion Badge

Through our focus group engagements with commuters, many have expressed their willingness to assist, but are unaware of what they can do. An online training session or e-learning programme will be provided to those who sign up as Champions, to equip them with the knowledge to understand the challenges faced by the vulnerable commuters and how they can provide the appropriate help. Champions will also receive a badge for easy identification. We hope that these champions will educate and inspire their social circles, and the wider community to foster a more caring commuting culture.

A small act of care can be of a great impact on others.

You can make a difference. Be part of the Caring SG Commuters movement by signing up as a Caring Commuter Champion.

To remind commuters to give way to those in need, priority use signs have been installed at lifts, platform screen doors and designated queue zones at all MRT/LRT stations and bus interchanges. This initiative aims to improve the ride experience for the elderly, less mobile and families travelling with young children.

Commuters are encouraged to keep a lookout for the priority use signs and give way or offer help to vulnerable commuters. Together we can make rides smoother, safer and more enjoyable for all commuters and make our public transport system more inclusive.

Priority Queues for Boarding
Priority Boarding at MRT stations

Priority for boarding will be given to the elderly, expectant mothers, families with strollers and commuters with disabilities.

Wait at the Priority Queue zones next to the queues at bus interchanges and MRT/LRT stations.

Priority Queues at Bus Interchanges

If the designated wheelchair space on a bus is already occupied, or if the bus is very crowded, strollers will have to be folded and carried on board. PMA users may wait for the next bus with available space.

By 2025, all bus interchanges will feature Priority Queue zones. These designated zones will be located next to boarding berths and fitted with seats for commuters to rest on.

Priority Seats

As of 2018, the rows of seats on all new public buses from the entrance to the first exit door are designated Priority Seats.

More Ergonomic Elder-Friendly Seats
Elderly Friendly Seats at Bus Stops

Elderly commuters can look forward to elderly-friendly seats at bus stops, taxi stands, bus interchanges and MRT stations.

Designed with them in mind, the ergonomic seats at bus stops and taxi stands feature armrests that commuters can use to sit and get up with greater ease.

Platform seats in newly-opened MRT stations along the Thomson-East Coast Line and within bus interchange concourse areas, likewise, have backrests and armrests. The colours of these seats were selected to contrast with the surroundings to increase visibility and help to prevent accidents or falls. Seat locations along the bus interchange concourse are optimised as potential resting spots for the elderly.

This elderly-friendly initiative will cater to and support the growing needs of our ageing population. 

Convenient Family-Friendly Facilities 

To make commuting more convenient for parents, new bus interchanges from 2020 and those undergoing major upgrading works will have family-friendly facilities such as baby care rooms, diaper changing stations and child-friendly wash basins, which are of lower heights and suitable for children to use. Similar facilities and family-friendly toilets fitted with adult and child sanitary ware can also be found in interchange stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line and in all stations on Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line.

More Ways to Receive Public Annoucements

During peak hours, it could be more difficult to hear public announcements in the train. With in-train display messages and signage strategically placed, commuters will now be able to conveniently read the public announcements.

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