What I Will Like To See In The Future Of Transport In Singapore

With Singapore trying to move towards becoming a car light city, I too believe that there is no need for a car. In Singapore, the estimated cost of owning a car is about $200,000 over 10 years. Crazy? Yes and since cars are depreciating goods, the cost of owning a car is really not worth it.

The government encourages people to take more public transport or even walk and cycle more so as to reduce the amount of cars present on the roads. Let's see how feasible these are in Singapore.

Walking:
Pros:
- A good form of exercise since people are getting more sedentary and move less. Walking more will certainly help to reduce weight gain even if it is not significant.

Cons:
- Slow
- Hot weather of Singapore makes it unbearable to walk for long distances
- Not able to travel long distances

Cycling:
Pros:
- A lot faster than walking
- A form of exercise

Cons:
- Cycling is getting more convenient but some routes are still not available for bicycles (eg. expressways)
- Still takes a long time to travel long distances
- Tiring if it is far
- Hot weather is unbearable

Public Transport (Buses and MRT)
Pros:
- Relatively cheap
- Air conditioned

Cons:
- VERY CROWDED ESPECIALLY PEAK PERIOD
- Getting more convenient but who wouldn't want to travel faster if there is a transport within their grasp

What I would like to see in the future will be pod like vehicles which are fully autonomous. It will be owned by a firm but you can request for them and will arrive below your block. Once you hop on, it will go to your destination as you stated. It will be like a taxi, but autonomous. However, the price has to be affordable like the current public transport of buses and mrt or twice the rate with a maximum of $5(?) This will bring in the comfort of not requiring to squeeze with random people and having some personal space to do work or even sleep. These vehicles will come in the number of seats as requested by the user. So maybe in the form of 1, 2, 4 and 7 seats.

Of course there won't be any more chances of meeting pretty girls or handsome guys on the public transport and brightening up your whole day. Or people going home together on the public transport to continue their conversation. Some social interaction might be reduced but buses and MRT should still be present but maybe at current prices.

However, in the near future, hopefully fully autonomous electric vehicles will be cheap enough, say $50,000 over 10 years, such that we will be able to enjoy the freedom of not having to drive. I do have a driving licence but I don't like to drive as it requires a lot of concentration and it does not allow me to do other things like catching up on my sleep. What I would like to see is cheap autonomous cars which will improve our transport system. Hopefully technology will be able to regulate the flow of traffic like allowing more cars to be packed within roads and flow smoothly.

I believe private ownership of cars will not extinct but I think it will certainly drop. Most likely, it will be owned by people who love to drive but it will still have features that allow the car to self drive in case the driver needed rest.

Somehow, I believe that this dream will never come true as it will add on to more cars present on the roads and maybe more roads will be needed to accommodate these. It will run against the car light society that the government envision and the amount of infrastructure needed to support these might be exorbitant. Life is tough, and one can only dream about it.