Can you remember the last time you took public transport?
Unless you work in essential services, you’ve probably not seen the inside of a bus or train for quite a while.
Yes, even though Covid-19 infections have dwindled and stay-home orders have been lifted, it may be a long time before things return to normal.
Survey Shows 22% of People in S’pore ‘Less Willing’ to Take Public Transport Now
A survey which polled over 6,000 people in eight countries has found that 22% of people in Singapore are “less willing” to take buses and trains now.
The survey, which was conducted between 3 and 10 June by American management consultancy Oliver Wyman, involved 459 respondents in Singapore.
Respondents were also more averse to ride-hailing and car-sharing services, with 26% saying they were less willing to use these now. 20% indicated that they would avoid them altogether.
Even when there were no people involved, like with bicycle or e-scooters for rent, 54% of respondents said they would steer clear of them.
How exactly are these people getting around? Are they all secretly PMD owners?
According to The Straits Times, people are now turning to personal transport, with 39% of participants saying they were more willing to commute by car now.
Will Return to Normal Once People Stop Working From Home
Many employees don’t need to commute now, of course, because most Singaporeans are still working from home.
Their commute to work now involves a 30-second walk from their bathroom to their room.
Singapore University of Social Sciences transport economist Walter Theseira, however, believes that things will change once people telecommuting.
“It’s easy to talk about big changes, like people giving up public transport and going to biking or driving,” he said. “But for many people, it’s simply too difficult or impractical to change.”
Biking to work might be safer, but if you live in Jurong and work in Tampines, it isn’t exactly an option, unless you have four hours to spare and want to temporarily lose the ability to walk.
As Prof Theseira said, a large number of commuters cannot afford to take a taxi every day and live too far away from their workplace to cycle there.
So, once people go back to work, they’ll likely return to buses and trains as their preferred means of commuting.
Lower Ridership Could Mean Higher Fares
If people continue to stay away from public transport, though, bus and train fares could increase.
Why?
Well, lower ridership means a drop in revenue for operators, and if they want to survive, they’ll either have to adjust fares or rely on more government subsidies, reported CNA.
This could deter the few people who want to take public transport, and in turn lead to fewer passengers.
I just want the Covid-19 pandemic to end so we can go back to complaining about crowded and delayed public transport all over again.
Now that you know about a possible increase in fares, you might as well just watch our video on how WiFi routers work and how you can make them fast even at home:
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
