Comparing the Trends in Transport Use in Perth and in Singapore

Perth and Singapore are two cities located in different parts of the world. Perth is located in the Western Australia while Singapore is located in Malaysia. Perth contains a well-developed road and rail transportation system.  The most commonly used mode of transport in the city include cars, commercial road vehicles, motorcycle, heavy and light rail, ferry ,  buses, walk, private horse, and cycle. The mass passage transit in the city is normally conducted by heavy rail, ferry, light rail, UPT bus and other private buses. Perth has been experiencing a steady increase in the number of passengers per kilometre travel year after year. However, there has been a great change in the passengers’ behaviours over years. The use of cars has grown across Australia exponentially since 1945. The use of other modes of transport that include horse, motorbus, heavy rail, light rail, and walking has decline greatly with time. Perth is famous as one of the most car-dependent cities in the world. There are 723 cars in the city for every 1000 person. Thus, car transportation is highly used in the city. This trend stated in 1950s after a new city planning choice was made in Perth (Curtis 2008).

The preferences on the mode of transportation have been changing gradually in Perth over time. Based on table one below, in private motor category, preference on cars has been growing at an average of about 1.25% between 2000 and 2013, preference on commercial vehicles recorded annual growth of 3.31%, while preference on motor cycles recorded annual growth of 7.23% for the same period. The table also shows that cars have been highly used, followed by commercial vehicles, and then motor cycles. Despite a high rate of annual growth in motor cycles and commercial vehicles, there use is considerably low than cars. In mass transit category, bus is more preferred than heavy rail, and ferry. However, heavy rail registered a higher annual growth; 8.0% compared to bus with annual growth rate of 2.32%. Light rail stopped being used at around 1960, while dependence on ferry as a mass transit is declining at rate of 1.05% per year (Australian Government 2013; Cosgrove 2011.).

The level of car ownership in Singapore is considerably low compared to that of Perth. In 20052006, Singapore had100 cars per every 1000 persons compared to 709 cars for every 1000 persons in Perth. This means, more people depend on cars in Perth compared to Singapore. In addition, the yearly car passenger kilometres in Singapore for the same period were 3040, while in Perth they were 13652. However, Perth recorded low yearly transit service vehicle kilometres per individual, 45.7 compared to Singapore, 92.2 in the same year.  Singapore common modes of transport include rail, bus, and cars. However, similar to Perth public bus is the most preferred form of public transport compared to rail (Kenworthy 2012).

Based on Table 2, it is evident that buses have been the most common form of public transportation in Singapore compared to heavy rail, light rail and taxi or cars. Unlike in Perth where the use of light rail ended in 1960s, Singapore still use light rail and its population is actually increasing gradually year after year. However the rate of growth is considerably small; below 1%, compared to that of Perth. Similarly, the four modes of transportation in Singapore demonstrate a positive steady trend, though taxi keeps on weaving. Unlike Perth, Singapore does not use ferry in public transportation.

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