Singapore has one of the best and most affordable public transport systems, scoring high in availability, affordability, efficiency, convenience and sustainability. The Singapore government has utilised policy and technology to manage transport demand and supply. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is working with private and public transport operators to maximise the current sustainable systems while minimising more environmentally impactful modes of transit. Here are the initiatives taken by LTA and operators to improve public transport and cope with future challenges:
- LTA and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) have launched an innovation call, Accelerating Co-Innovation for Transformation and Export (Xcite). This initiative will leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence, image analysis and automation for better transport operations and maintenance. Xcite will connect problem owners with potential solution providers in engineering, technology and material sciences. These new solutions developed under Xcite can address land transport operational needs, leading to deployment opportunities.
- LTA and the Singapore Standards Council are jointly working on a revised set of standards for autonomous vehicles (AVs) called Technical Reference for Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), also known as TR 68. Transport Minister S. Iswaran said, “This reference is intended to support the development of vehicle deployments without requiring human operator on-board.”
- LTA's Singapore Rail Academy, the Singapore Institute of Technology, SBS Transit and SMRT Corporation are together starting a new Post-Graduate Certification for Urban Railway Technology. This programme will improve the capabilities of workers. Apart from this new programme, SMRT is also growing its data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. Commuting on this, SMRT CEO, Neo Kian Hong, said, “We must ensure that the capabilities and processes required to run the public transport are continuously improved upon. Our Engineering Group is growing its data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to support evolving business needs. This includes building a common data environment and actively collaborating with partners such as SIT, AI.SG and commercial vendors on video analytics, software and digital systems.”He further added, “With each new capability built, the group expands its catalogue of engineering solutions and our systems run smoother.”
- SMRT is partnering with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to provide engineers with the opportunities to attain their engineering degrees or diplomas respectively. The operator has established two work-study programmes (WSP): the SIT-SMRT WSP and the SP WSP for upskilling workers.
- As electric vehicles will be introduced in the coming years, LTA will install 620 charging points in public carparks within the next 12 months.
- Singapore will deploy 5,800 buses, supplied by ST Engineering Mobility Services. These buses have 50% less emissions than diesel buses and have 50% fuel cost savings per kilometre.
Conclusion
LTA, public companies, and private transport operators are preparing a robust and comprehensive response plan to cope with future challenges in the transport network. The initiatives that are mentioned above will help Singapore to stay ahead in the transportation system while providing reliable and safer journeys to commuters.
About the Author
Chloe Jung
Chloe works as a lead engineer in a transport technology solutions company in Germany. She loves to learn about new technologies and sustainable initiatives taken by transport networks around the world. Chloe shares her views on new technologies.
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