Transport in Singapore
Transportation in Singapore, as typical of other transport systems, is mainly
road-based, almost nearly all of which are
paved.
Road transport covers most of the island.
These roads are overseen by the
Land Transport Authority (LTA), which also constructs
expressways in Singapore. These expressways form the larger transport arteries between the distinct towns and
regional centres as laid out in
Singapore's urban planning and give vehicles the ability to travel overland faster. Prominent
expressways include the
Pan Island Expressway (PIE), the
Central Expressway (CTE), the
East Coast Parkway (ECP), the
Bukit Timah Expressway (BTE), the
Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), the
Kranji Expressway (KJE) and the
Seletar Expressway (SLE). This transport policy was developed shortly after independence during the
history of Singapore because of frequent
traffic congestion and overcrowding in the
Central Area in order to encourage development in other parts of the island.
Singapore is linked to
Johor,
Malaysia via a
causeway and
bridge, as well as a
railway line operated by the
KTMB of
Malaysia. The
Singapore Changi Airport, comprising two terminals and a budget terminal, is one of the most important air hubs in the region. The
international airport is situated at the eastern most tip of the main island, and serves 167 cities in 53 countries. When construction of the third terminal is completed in 2008, Changi will be soon also be capable of handling 64 million passengers every year.
2The policies of the LTA are meant to encourage
Public transport in Singapore, in order to provide incentives of convenience of residing away from the Central Area, as well as to reduce
air pollution. Singapore has a
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and
Light Rapid Transit (LRT)
rail system consisting of five lines. There is also a system of
bus routes throughout the island, most of which have
air conditioning due to Singapore's yearlong heat. Buses without
air conditioning are gradually being phased out. A contactless
smartcard, the
EZ-link card is used to pay bus and subway fares.
The
Port of Singapore, run by the port operator company PSA International, which formerly called the Port of Singapore Authority) and Jurong Port, is the world's busiest in terms of shipping tonnage handled. 1.04 billion gross tons (GT) were handled in the year 2004, crossing the one billion mark for the first time in Singapore's maritime history. Singapore also emerged as the top port in terms of cargo tonnage handled with 393 million tonnes of cargo in the same year, pipping the port in
Rotterdam for the first time in the process.
Singapore is ranked second globally in terms of
containerised traffic, with 21.3 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) handled in 2004., and retains her position as the World's busiest hub for transhipment traffic. She is also the world's biggest bunkering hub, with 23.6 million tonnes sold in 2004.
Singapore aims to be Asia's aviation hub chiefly via the promotion of liberal aviation policies in a bid to encourage airlines to commence and to maintain operations here. The aviation industry is regulated by the
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, a statutory board of the Singapore government under the
Ministry of Transport.
Airlines
There are currently has 5 local scheduled service airlines, all of them operating out of Singapore Changi Airport, offering scheduled flights to over 70 cities on 5 continents. The national flag carrier,
Singapore Airlines, and its subsidiary,
Silkair, operate out of Changi Airport's Terminal 2. Singapore three new budget airlines,
Jetstar Asia,
Tiger Airways and
Valuair, currently operate out of Changi Airport's Terminal 1. From 2006 onwards, these budget carriers will operate from a new budget airline terminal at Changi Airport. However, till date, only one airline operates at the new Budget Terminal - Tiger Airways. Other budget airlines have cited various reasons for not shifting operations to the new terminal, including accessibility and ease of transfers to connecting flights.
*
Jetstar Asia- founded 2004
*
Silkair- founded 1976
*
Singapore Airlines- founded 1947 (as Malayan Airways)
*
Tiger Airways- founded 2003
*
Valuair- founded 2004 (has since merged with Jetstar Asia to form OrangeStar)
Airports
Singapore Changi Airport is a regional
aviation hub served by 64 international airlines and is being expanded with the construction of a third terminal slated for completion in 2008. A fourth terminal, designed to cater to budget airlines only, was opened in April 2006, and was named
Budget Terminal.
Airports: 9 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:total: 9
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1999 est.)
Heliports
Cars
Total population: 405,798
Buses
 |
Fleet of SBS Transit buses parked at Boon Lay Interchange. |
SBS Transit*Routes: 185 (133 trunk, 52 feeder)
*Fleet: 2,582
*Daily trips: 2.34 million passenger trips
SMRT Corporation*Routes: 76 (57 trunk, 19 feeder)
*Fleet: 813
*Daily Trips: 661,595 passenger trips
Taxis
 |
A Comfort taxi at Raffles Place. |
Total fleet: 19,007
All fitted with meters; all air conditioned; about 90% of taxis have radiophones; call booking is done via GPS or digital voice despatch
Daily trips: about 588,632
Cable car
The
Singapore Cable Car is a special form of land transport which uses a
gondola system to allow a route over the water at an elevated altitude between
Mount Faber on the main island of Singapore and the resort island of
Sentosa.
Rail
Railways:
38.6 km,
narrow gauge,
1.000 m. The island rail's terminal at
Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is linked to the
Malaysian rail network
KTM across the
1.2 km
causeway to
Johor Bahru on the
Malay Peninsula. It connects with
Kuala Lumpur and
Bangkok.
There is a
109 km
standard gauge rapid transit system known as the
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) with 67 stations. There are three main lines running at present: the
North South Line, the
East West Line (both operated by
SMRT Corporation), and the
North East Line (operated by
SBS Transit). A new
Circle Line is slated for completion in 2010 and will be opened in phases as the various stations are ready.
In 1998, a
7.8 km
Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system with 14 stations was introduced in
Bukit Panjang. The
Sengkang LRT Line, a 10.7 km
light rail line was opened in 2003; a third LRT line,
Punggol LRT Line, was opened in 2005 Jan with the East Loop of the system serving the residence in
Punggol.
Roads
Singapore pioneered the modern use of toll roads to enter the most congested city area with the
Singapore Area Licensing Scheme, which has since been replaced with the
Electronic Road Pricing, a form of
electronic toll collection.
Roads:*Total length of expressways: 150 km
*Total length of major arterial roads: 575 km
*Total length of collector roads: 405 km
*Total length of local access roads: 2014 km
*Total road length: 3144 km
Traffic drives on the left.
Singapore has two land links to
Malaysia. The Causeway, built in the 1920s to connect
Johor Bahru (
Johor, Malaysia) to
Woodlands in Singapore, carries a road and a railway line whereas the
Tuas Second Link, a bridge further west, was completed in 1996 and links
Tuas in Singapore to
Tanjung Kupang in Johor (Malaysia).
 |
The 8 expressways of Singapore. |
|
Keppel Container Terminal in Singapore |
The
Port of Singapore, overseen by the
Maritime And Port Authority Of Singapore and run by port operators
PSA International, which was formerly the
Port of Singapore Authority, and
Jurong Port, is the world's busiest in terms of shipping tonnage handled. 1.04 billion gross tons (GT) were handled in the year 2004, crossing the one billion mark for the first time in Singapore's maritime history. Singapore also emerged as the top port in terms of cargo tonnage handled with 393 million tonnes of cargo in the same year, pipping the port in
Rotterdam for the first time in the process.
Singapore is ranked second globally in terms of
containerised traffic, with 21.3 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) handled in 2004., and retains her position as the World's busiest hub for transhipment traffic. She is also the world's biggest bunkering hub, with 23.6 million tonnes sold in 2004.
Ports and harbors: Singapore
Merchant marine:total:900 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 23,065,290 GRT/36,393,317 DWT
ships by type:bulk 136, cargo 84, chemical tanker 96, combination bulk 4, combination ore/oil 8, container 186, liquefied gas 41, livestock carrier 3, multi-functional large load carrier 2, petroleum tanker 290, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 5, short-sea/passenger 1, specialized tanker 10, vehicle carrier 32
foreign-owned:Australia 6, China 15, Denmark 32, Germany 18, Greece 12, Hong Kong 31, India 3, Indonesia 33, Japan 58, South Korea 13, Malaysia 31, Monaco 19, Norway 53, Papua New Guinea 1, Philippines 9, Russia 2, Slovenia 1, Sweden 12, Switzerland 5, Taiwan 44, Tanzania 1, Thailand 16, United Kingdom 15, United States 1
registered in other countries:383 (2003 est.)
note:a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 22 countries among which are Japan 41, Denmark 35, Sweden 28, Thailand 28, Hong Kong 26, Germany 19, Taiwan 19, and Indonesia 11 (1998 est.)
PSA Singapore's Container facilities includes:
*Container berths: 37
*Quay length: 10,314 m
*Area: 3.39 km²
*Max draft: 15 m
*Quay cranes: 112
*Designed capacity: 20,000 kTEU
Five new berths at
Pasir Panjang Container Terminal is now under construction, and the resulting figures will stand at:
*Container berths: 42
*Quay length: 12,014 m
*Area: 4.02 km²
*Maximum draft: 15 m
*Quay cranes: 132
*Designed capacity: 24,000 kTEU
Jurong Port's facilities include:
*Berths: 23
*Berth length: 4,545 m
*Maximum vessel draft: 16 m
*Maximum vessel size: 150,000 dwt
*Area: 1.2 km² (Free Trade Zone), 320,000 m² (non-Free Trade Zone)
*Warehouse facilities: 280,000 m²
*
Links between Singapore and Johor.
*
Public transport in Singapore*
Singapore Ministry of Transport*
A local Wikipedia on Singaporean buses*
Transport sector's highs and lows in year 2005
