Since the commencement of public engagement in August 2018 on the Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP) 2040, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has received over 5,000 responses from members of the public.
2 The respondents, who come from all walks of life, young and old, shared their views with LTA and the LTMP Advisory Panel through various platforms, including seven REACH Listening Points[1], focus group discussions and an e-poll.
3 The LTMP 2040 public consultation document, which serves as the foundation for LTA’s public engagement process, was released in September 2018, and covers three broad themes –
(i) Making Walk Cycle Ride (WCR)[2] the preferred way to travel;
(ii) Supporting an easier and more inclusive WCR experience; and
(iii) How the land transport system can improve our quality of life.
4 At the 7th LTMP 2040 Listening Point at Waterway Point this morning, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Communications and Information, Dr Janil Puthucheary shared that, through the public engagement thus far, Singaporeans’ aspirations were for a land transport system that facilitates easy access to work, live, and play opportunities.
5 The salient findings from the public engagement sessions include:
5.1. Walk Cycle Ride, the preferred way to travel
- The top attribute “convenience” was chosen by more than 75% of the respondents in the e-poll. Proximity to bus stops and MRT stations and ease of transfers featured prominently.
- The next two attributes which respondents wanted most for our land transport system were “connected” (63%) and “fast” (59%).
- Participants at the focus group discussions shared that they prefer to Walk, Cycle or Ride to their destinations over driving, so long as their entire journey was under an hour.
5.2. A more inclusive Walk Cycle Ride journey starts with a caring commuter culture
- Almost all the respondents at the REACH Listening Points agreed that individuals needed to be gracious to their fellow commuters.
- Across the platforms, respondents agreed that commuters needed to be proactive in fostering a more caring commuter culture, so that the diverse needs of their fellow commuters could be met.
- To encourage such gracious behaviour, some focus group participants suggested setting up a platform for members of the public to recognise and reward gracious commuters.
- Even as some focus group participants called on the Government to educate commuters further through more campaigns, others pointed out that the success of any campaign ultimately rests on each and every commuter.
- Respondents at the focus group discussions also emphasised the need for commuters to give priority use of MRT station lifts to those who need them more, and to proactively assist fellow commuters who were in need. In general, commuters could avoid crowding around the entrances of train cars to create more manoeuvre room for the less mobile and thereby facilitating their boarding and disembarkation.
- Apart from recognising that commuters could play an important role in helping others, participants at focus group discussions also called for enhanced training for public transport crew to better help commuters with special needs. To aid visually-impaired commuters, the use of louder audio signals at pedestrian crossings and in-bus announcements on upcoming bus stops could be considered.
5.3. Prioritise space for Walk Cycle Ride to create a better quality living environment that is safer, more gracious and more pleasant
- Almost all respondents at the REACH Listening Points agreed that they and their fellow commuters and road users had a shared responsibility for making our land transport system safe for all users.
- Respondents called cyclists and personal mobility device (PMD) users to give way to the more vulnerable, such as pedestrians and the elderly. They also felt that while on roads, drivers should take extra care when they encounter cyclists.
- More than two-thirds of respondents to the surveys and public consultation document would like to see more priority and space be allocated to pedestrians, cyclists, and PMD users, instead of cars. They were of the view that this would make shared pathways safer, and encourage more to take up healthy activities such as walking and cycling.
- Within these shared spaces, respondents unanimously agreed that gracious and pleasant behaviour were important, with some calling for motorists to be more considerate in their use of horns, while others urged fellow bus and train commuters to put on earphones when accessing their mobile entertainment.
- At the focus group discussions, there were calls for road and path users to adhere to the rules governing road and path usage, to make for a safer and more pleasant environment.
6 Members of public can continue to provide their feedback online through the e-poll and the public consultation document available on LTA’s website at http://www.lta.gov.sg/ltmp2040 until 31 December 2018.
7 The LTMP Advisory Panel will consider the views gathered through the public engagement process, before submitting a set of recommendations to Government by early 2019.
