Singapore: The Development of a World Class Transport System

Singapore's Land Transport Authority, formed in 1995, set itself a mission of producing a world class transport system. This paper assesses the extent to which this goal is being achieved. It outlines the structure within which transport decisions are taken and indicates the freedom this gives to develop integrated transport and land‐use strategies. It demonstrates the long‐term stability in transport strategy from 1972 onwards, and the key contributions to that strategy of land‐use controls and travel‐demand management measures. The individual elements of the strategy are then reviewed and innovations identified in demand management, public transport service provision and information technology. Finally, the key attributes that have led to the success of the strategy are identified, and it is suggested that many of these are transferable to other cities of the developed world.     

新加坡城市公共交通管理对广西的启示

文章从组织管理与规划管理两方面介绍了新加坡城市公共交通管理的成功经验,分析了该经验给广西城市公共交通管理所带来的启示,提出了广西城市公共交通的发展策略。     

Development and Deployment of Public Transport Policy and Planning in Taiwan

Over the past decade, the escalating roadway congestion and environmental deterioration due to heavy use of private vehicles have provoked the Taiwan government to realize the importance of public transport systems. Under the “carrot-and-stick” rationales, the government has formulated public transport policies and exercised a series of related initiatives by providing sufficient and higher quality of public transport services so as to attract more private vehicle users. In this paper, the planning philosophy and policy formulation of Taiwan’s public transport development are highlighted. The most important initiatives, including the Five-year Enhancement of Mass Transportation Program and the upgrading public transport schemes in the National Development Plan are examined. Based on previous experience and lessons, we point out the most challenging issues that the government will encounter. Suggestions for the future of public transport planning are also addressed.     

Learning from Los Angeles: transport,urban form,and air quality

Los Angeles is well known around the world as an automobile-oriented low density community, yet recent transportation policies have emphasized greater capital investment in rail transportation than in highways, and recent policies have attempted to discourage automobile usage through transportation demand management. While these policies have accomplished small shifts toward public transport and somewhat lower dependence upon singly occupied automobilies for work commuting, the financial costs of these policy changes has been very large in relation to their benefits. Proper pricing of transportation alternatives, more creative use of new and emerging transportation technologies, and the provision of many more opportunities for simpler private sector transport services, would all appear to be more promising as cost-effective approaches to coping with congestion in Los Angeles than the current regional transportation policies.     

Transport reviews prize

Bombay, the commercial capital of India, is suffering from traffic thrombosis. Bombay used to be an attractive city some three decades ago and was commonly referred to as ‘Bombay the Beautiful’. The picture is now, however, the opposite extreme.

The way Bombay has grown, an underground railway is no doubt justified. Unfortunately, the economy may not be able to afford it for many years to come. Low cost measures have therefore to be adopted like (a) development of land use with a view to controlling the traffic demand itself; (b) discouraging further growth in and around the existing congested central business district; (c) establishment of a counter‐magnet; (d) conversion of the mono‐centric pattern to a poly‐nucleated structure; (e) better pedestrian facilities; (f) intermediate public transport; (g) traffic management measures to maximize available road capacities; (h) bus priority measures; (i) creating an east‐west axis for activities to relieve the present north‐south axis.

This would form the core of transport strategy. Capital intensive rail projects will face severe shortage of funds. An additional road/rail link has also been suggested to the mainland. The congestion in Bombay can be relieved if the master plan is prepared for an integrated system. Traffic and town planning must go hand in hand with priority to traffic planning.     

A Review of Pseudo Panel Data Approach in Estimating Short-run and Long-run Public Transport Demand Elasticities

Abstract

The distinctions between short-run and long-run public transport demand elasticities have been highlighted in the literature, but the identification of long-run travel demand has been constrained by existing research methodology and the unavailability of longitudinal travel survey data. The pseudo panel data approach using repeated cross-sectional data has been suggested as an alternative to conducting a longitudinal travel demand analysis when genuine panel data are not available. This paper comprehensively reviews the background and the current practices of pseudo panel data research, and introduces the challenges in applied research that need further investigation, particularly for public transport. A case study using the Sydney Household Travel Survey data is presented to demonstrate pseudo panel data construction and to identify the short-run and long-run public transport demand elasticities using a pseudo panel data approach. The research findings suggest that the public transport demand elasticity of price in Sydney is ?0.22 in the short run and ?0.29 in the long run.     

Urban Space Distribution and Sustainable Transport

In many cities of the world, road space is increasingly contested. Growing vehicle numbers, traffic calming and the development of new infrastructure for more sustainable transport modes such as bicycles have all contributed to pressure on available space and conflicts over the allocation of space. This paper provides the first assessment of urban transport infrastructure space distribution, distinguishing motorized individual transport, public transport, cycling and walking. To calculate area allocation, an assessment methodology was developed using high-resolution digital satellite images in combination with a geographical information system to derive area measurements. This methodology was applied to four distinctly different city quarters in Freiburg, Germany. Results indicate that space is unevenly distributed, with motorized individual transport being the favoured transport mode. Findings also show that if trip number to space allocation ratios are calculated, one of the most sustainable transport modes, the bicycle, is the most disadvantaged. This suggests that area allocation deserves greater attention in the planning and implementation of more sustainable urban transport designs.     

Efficiency of European Funds in the Accession Countries: The Case of Transport Infrastructure Investments in Latvia

ABSTRACT

A transport initiative, like any kind of public action, has an impact on the monetary cost, time cost, efficiency and comfort of the transportation of goods and people, in particular transport infrastructure investments. All such initiatives are subject to cost benefit analyses at the national and EU level to know whether the present value of total net benefits including environmental impacts exceeds their cost. However, several important policy issues remain unresolved in standard evaluation procedures. One issue is whether the so-called direct measurement of user benefit, which consists of quantifying changes in surplus of the users of the transport system, captures all welfare generated in the economy. Another issue is how the gains (or possibly losses) of a transport initiative are distributed among regions. The aim of this article is to perform a systematic and quantitative analysis of the socio-economic and spatial impacts of alternative transport investments by carrying out scenario simulations in order to improve the understanding of the impact of transportation policies on the short- and long-term spatial development in Latvia. The general result from the scenario simulations is that rail projects seem to be more effective in terms of promoting regional economic activity than road projects.     

Transport reviews prize

The transport problems that urban centres now face (as regard congestion, the environment and public deficits) have led to an examination of competition in the sector. Some countries have moved towards the deregulation or privatization of urban public transport, influenced by developments in the theory of contestable markets. These analyses could potentially provide a means of increasing the efficiency of public services and, hence, public transport. However, the authors do not feel that they can deal with the full extent of the problem. Particularly in urban areas, there is a need nowadays to examine the issue of competition between the passenger car and public transport, especially from the pricing angle. In France, decades of policy strongly influenced by a preference for the car have prevented this problem from being a central concern for researchers and decision-makers. The approach to the problem has mainly been centred on increasing urban supply to meet demand better. However, a failure to consider pricing, and the subsidization phenomena that can occur as a result, affects the shape of supply systems. Pricing, through its action on demand, acts on supply by increasing or reducing its potential profitability. 'Snowball' effects can, therefore, mean that slight underpricing results in the domination of one transport mode. These effects have been revealed in particular by work in the new field of network economics. The example of the Lyon conurbation shall be used to illustrate the case, which is that car travel is underpriced. The basis of the exposé will be a detailed analysis of the externalities associated with the car, i.e. the costs of car use and the revenue it raises for the community. The second part of the paper is a study of several urban travel policies in Europe (France, UK, Switzerland, Italy) to show the 'effects' of this underpricing. Where supply has followed the pressure of demand, the dominance of the car has been reinforced. However, in cities, particularly in Switzerland, where supply has been restricted, this dominance has been considerably moderated. On the other hand, it can be seen from the French example that taking strong action to improve public transport is not in itself sufficient to increase usage. Several lessons can be learnt from this work. First, it is shown, if it was still necessary to do so, that the problems of urban travel require a comprehensive and coherent approach. Modal policy must, therefore, be assessed with reference to the entire transport system. Next, in connection with the issue of regulation, it is important to consider the issue of competition in urban areas, and not only competition between public transport operators, but also (and even above all) competition within the entire system of personal and public transport. Finally, with regard to pricing, the ratchet effects that benefit the car as a result of its underpricing in urban areas need to be studied.     

Key factors influencing the global passenger transport dynamics using the AIM/transport model

A bottom-up passenger transport model named AIM (Asia-pacific Integrated Model)/Transport model is developed by incorporating behavioral parameters and transportation technological details. This model is based on discrete based choice modelling covering 17 global regions soft-linked with the AIM/CGE (Computable General Equilibrium) model. In this paper, the model is used to assess the impact of various factors like travel time, energy efficiency improvement, load factor, mode preference along with environmental awareness factors on transport demand, energy and emissions. The modelling assessment results show that travel speed and land-use patterns have significant impact on the travel demand. High occupancy rate and shift towards the mass-transit system result in energy and emissions reduction. Implementation of carbon tax aligned with the two-degree target results in a 22% cumulative emission reduction from 2005 to 2100 relative to the baseline case. However, the reduction potential can be increased to 42% by combining behavioral and technology related mitigation options like mass-transit system speed improvement, transit oriented development, efficiency improvement, preference towards eco-friendly technologies and high vehicle occupancy.     

Special issue: Importance of public transport

The transport demand in most major cities around the world can only be met with a high‐quality public transport system. The requirements on bus, rail, underground and tram systems are manifold with reliability and efficiency as the key factors. The service operating hours and the size of the network are often extended in order to serve the needs better. Further, most metropolitan areas are trying to provide more incentives for citizens to leave the car at home and use the local transit systems instead. The reasons are well known. Not only does a public transport system only make economical sense if it is well used, but most urban areas with a high car‐dependency face at least three major problems; safety, congestion, and pollution (noise and air pollution, land separation, etc.). It is generally recognised that to decrease car usage and to increase public transport usage a stick & carrot approach is needed. The London congestion‐charging scheme is an example since all revenues collected by the scheme are put into the improvement of bus and underground services.     

Integrated land use transportation planning in facilitating and guiding the industrialization process in developing countries: The case of the Johor Bahru metropolitan area

The developing countries in their effort in promoting and guiding their industrialization program require effective land use and transportation planning to facilitate the urbanization process and optimize the use of resources. The recent rapid industrialization process in the Johor Bahru metropolitan area due to overspill development from Singapore, the Johor (Malaysia) and Batam Island (Indonesia), the Singapore development triangle proposal and policy deregulation of the Johor State government needreexamination of the existing Structure Plan policy (1984) framework for this region. The authors made observations on the current development and land use and transport policy framework of Johor Bahru-Pasir Gudang Structure Plan (1984), Malaysia with a view towards improving the land use and transportation planning approach.     

Environmental impacts of transformative land use and transport developments in the Greater Beijing Region: Insights from a new dynamic spatial equilibrium model

This paper reports the insights into environmental impacts of the ongoing transformative land use and transport developments in Greater Beijing, from a new suite of dynamic land use, spatial equilibrium and strategic transport models that is calibrated for medium to long term land use and transport predictions. The model tests are focused on urban passenger travel demand and associated emissions within the municipality of Beijing, accounting for Beijing’s land use and transport interactions with Tianjin, Hebei and beyond. The findings suggests that background trends of urbanization, economic growth and income rises will continue to be very powerful drivers for urban passenger travel demand across all main modes of transport beyond 2030. In order to achieve the dual policy aims for a moderately affluent and equitable nation and reducing the absolute levels of urban transport emissions by 2030, road charging and careful micro-level coordination between land use, built form and public transport provision may need to be considered together for policy implementation in the near future.     

Changes in transport risk perception in urban populations in Norway from 2004 to 2013

Urban populations transport risk perception is interesting because it is associated with travel mode choices and use. This study investigates changes in transport-related risk constructs in the urban population in Norway in 2004 and 2013, and describes whether people perceive private or public to be associated with the highest risk. The results are based on self-completion questionnaire surveys conducted in two independent representative samples living in the same urban areas in 2004 (n?=?592) and 2013 (n?=?1035). Overall, the respondents perceived the risk as lower in 2013 than in 2004. For both time periods, people consistently assessed the risk constructs related to private motorized transportation as higher than corresponding risk in public transportation. The findings suggest that while transportation risk perception in urban populations may change over time, the pattern that private motorized transportation is associated with a higher perceived risk than public transportation remains stable.     

Transport and nation‐state governments: a global review

The review undertaken in this paper shows how, at the beginning of 1988, nation‐states of the world allocated ministerial responsibilities for the important function of transport. A total of 118 countries are examined, compared with 111 in 1982 (Transport Reviews, Vol. 2, No. 4) and 115 in 1985 (Transport Reviews, Vol. 5. No. 1). The analysis reveals an increase in the number of ministers solely responsible for one mode of transport, and notes an increase in the number of designated ministers for tourism. The paper goes on to examine the two main duties of ministers of transport: safety and economic regulation; and of the increasing need for closer international co‐operation as new transport technology, the growing demand for travel and expanding world trade make our world ‘an even more local village’ in the decades to come.     

基于用地分析的公交站场布局规划研究

城市规模的不断扩大和城市化进程的加快使得大城市的交通问题日益突出,大力发展公共交通,是解决密集型大都市交通问题的有效办法。文章介绍广州市公交站场布局方法,分析存在问题的原因,为此类设施用地规划提供参考。     

Modeling the interaction between buses,passengers and cars on a bus route using a multi-agent system

This paper models part of a public transport network (PTN), specifically, a bus route, as a small-size multi-agent system (MAS). The proposed approach is applied to a case study considering a ‘real world’ bus line within the PTN in Auckland, New Zealand. The MAS-based analysis uses modeling and simulation to examine the characteristics of the observed system – autonomous agents interacting with one another – under different scenarios, considering bus capacity and frequency of service for existing and projected public transport (PT) demand. A simulation model of a bus route is developed, calibrated and validated. Several results are attained, such as when the PT passenger load is not close to bus capacity, this load has no effect on average passenger waiting time at bus stops. The model proposed can be useful to practitioners as a tool to model the interaction between buses and other agents.     

Controlling vehicular emissions in Beijing during the last decade

The vehicle population of Beijing is sharply increasing at an average annual rate of 14.5%, causing severe transportation and environmental problems. The Beijing municipal government and the public have worked hard to control vehicular emissions since 1995. Strategies and measures have been introduced to regulate land use and traffic planning, emission control of in-use vehicles and new vehicles, fuel quality improvement, introduction of clean fuel vehicle technology and fiscal incentives. New development plans for Beijing will change the transportation structure by encouraging public transportation. For in-use vehicles, the I/M program has employed ASM tests since early 2003 and the government has encouraged the retirement of high-emission vehicles. For new vehicles, Beijing introduced Euro 1 and Euro 2 emission standards in early 1999 and 2003, respectively. It is also confirmed that Euro 3 standards will be introduced in 2005. At the same time, the fuel quality in Beijing was improved significantly, by banning lead and reducing sulfur among other changes. CNG and LPG were introduced in 1999 and are used in buses and taxis. Today Beijing has the largest CNG bus fleet in the world with more than 2000 dedicated CNG buses. Beijing has also focused on fiscal incentives such as tax deductions for new vehicles meeting enhanced emission standards to encourage their sales. These strategies and measures have had an impact on the control of vehicular emissions. Despite the rapid increase of the vehicle population by 60% between 1998 and 2003, total vehicular emissions have not increased. With the enhancement of vehicular emission control, the air quality in Beijing is improving as the city strives to its goal for a “Green Olympics”.     

Attitudes to transport modes for shopping purposes in Singapore

A review of the retailing and transportation literature shows that there is an apparently large research gap in the understanding of shoppers’ attitudes towards transport modes for shopping purposes. In particular, not many studies have been done to examine shoppers’ detailed and disaggregated attitudinal image structures of the various transport modes for shopping purposes. Using Singapore as a study area, this paper has attempted to investigate shoppers’ image structure of transport modes and their comparative perception ratings for the various modes of transportation for shopping purposes. Using principal component analysis, the research has unveiled the perceptions of five transport modes for shopping purposes. While some of the factors are unique to certain transport modes, other factors, namely ‘suitability’, ‘practicality’, ‘ease of travel’ and ‘cost’, are common to all modes of transportation. By way of the weighted‐factor rating, the study found that the car recorded the highest overall perception rating while the bus rated the lowest. In addition, the shoppers have reasonably good perception of public transport modes in Singapore.     

Singapore motorisation restraint and its implications on travel behaviour and urban sustainability

The example of Singapore shows that rapid urban and economic growth does not have to bring traffic congestion and pollution. Singapore has chosen to restrain car traffic demand due to its limited land supply. Transport policy based on balanced development of road and transit infrastructure and restraint of traffic has been consistently implemented for the past 30 years. Combined with land use planning, it resulted in a modern transport system, which is free from major congestion and provides users with different travel alternatives. As the economic growth caused a substantial increase in demand for cars, several pricing policies were introduced with the aim of restraining car ownership and usage. Growth of the vehicle population is now controlled and potentially congested roads are subject to road pricing. These measures help to keep the roads free from major congestion, maintain car share of work trips below 25% and keep the transport energy usage low. Although Singapore conditions are in many aspects unique, its travel demand experience can provide useful lessons for other rapidly growing cities in Asia.