Foresight study on singapore urban mobility: Methodologies and preliminary insights

Abstract

Singapore enjoys a world-class urban transportation system today, benefitting from a combination of long-term planning, continued investment in infrastructure, and readiness in adopting new technologies. However, planners will always need to prepare for uncertain futures, and understand driving forces and global trends that affect future urban mobility. In this paper, we present an ongoing foresight study on Singapore’s urban transport and mobility up to 2030. Our objectives are to develop a shared understanding of the current state of the transportation system, highlight long-term challenges and opportunities, and establish networks between stakeholders. Through environmental scanning and expert interviews, our preliminary findings indicate that mobility-on-demand services, multi-modal transport, and e-commerce are the dominant future drivers of change in the urban mobility landscape. In addition, ageing population, growing population and travel demand, inefficiencies in urban freight, shortage in skilled manpower, and a general resistance to big policy changes are the key challenges facing Singapore urban mobility in future. Finally, in terms of technology, autonomous vehicles, real-time traveller information, and shared mobility are seen as potential game-changers for the future.