SINGAPORE - Cycling can become a viable transport option, says Khaw

According to an article from today online by Amanda Lee the government in Singapore wants cycling to become a more “viable transport option”. Currently, cycling makes up one to two percent of Singapore’s transportation possibilities. There are a few factors that influence the popularity of cycling. On October 22nd a book was published written by Singapore’s Center for Liveable Cities (CLC) and the United States-based Urban Land Institute (ULI). The book contains ideas and important measures which make cities more “bikeable, walkable and people-friendly”. One of them is to keep motorized traffic slow in pedestrian areas to encourage cycling, says Dr Park Byung Joon, who is an expert of urban transport management. Another point is to make street crossings a priority. What is also important is that the walking and cycling paths are more appealing and society feels comfortable. Cycling should be more convenient and an easy, fast way to travel from A to B. But what has to be ensured is that these cycling paths and sidewalks are safe. A way to do this is by enlarging the traffic lanes. This can also prevent cyclists, pedestrians and drivers from getting into conflicts. By 2030 Singapore is planning on creating a 700 km long cycling network to connect homes and neighborhoods. This should encourage people to get out their bikes and cycle for a healthy environment and a beneficial society and economy.

What we have to say about this:

This article only shows that the government of Singapore wants to change Singapore’s transport habits, but not why it’s important to do that. Singapore has one of the highest level of pollution in the world, which is mainly caused by motorized vehicles. This strongly affects human health. These particles are fine enough to settle down in our lungs and cause serious health problems. The amount of people with asthma problems and lung illnesses has risen by 20 percent in the last few years. In general Singapore has a bad reputation for not taking care of their environment.
Another big factor that contributes to the bad air in Singapore is that their population rate has rapidly grown in a matter of only a few years. Nearly 90 percent of their forest has been cut down and their pollution is enormously high compared to the rest of the world. So, in order to manage this problem, getting people to use their bikes more often is a good solution.
Compared to Basel, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in Singapore is more than three times as high. Even though Singapore is a bigger city than Basel and has many more people, this is still an outrageously big difference. A possible reason for this is that Swiss people pay more attention to their environment. There are plenty of organisations (for example Greenpeace) in Switzerland, which try to preserve nature, to prevent firms from cutting down forests in order to build new highways and housing developments, or just trying to keep the country clean. This has a great impact on the Swiss environment.. This is also a reason why Switzerland has one of the best reputations in the world in terms of cleanliness and pollution. Here, our pollution levels are regulated by strict laws. In Basel for example, it’s against the law to drive a motorized vehicle within the inner city. To compensate for that, there are parking areas for bikes at basically every corner.
In Switzerland about 70% of the population own a bike, whereas in Singapore the number of bike owners isn’t even registered. The reason why we cycle more also has to do with cultural differences. In Singapore cycling used to be a more important mode of transport after World War I, but lost it’s appeal after the 1970’s. During this time the people in Singapore got wealthier and were able to afford private vehicles. So biking was a “lower-class form of travel”. The focus was then on building better and wider highways for motor transport. At the same time Europe began paying more attention to health and the preservation of nature. This explains why we have a bigger cycling community.
About 30% of pedestrians and bus commuters would be ready to switch to cycling in Singapore, which would have a positive effect on the air pollution. We personally think that it is a very good idea to invest in Singapore’s cycling infrastructure.
(M.S, A.P, J.G, S.G)