Census data reveals median public transport travelling times have gone up

Median travelling times for those that commute via public transportation has gone up compared to 10 years ago, according to the latest data from the Singapore 2020 census.

For those that ride solely the public buses, the median travelling time during this decade has gone up from 30 to 37 minutes.

Those that only take the trains meanwhile, have seen their median travelling times go up from 40 to 45 minutes.

And those that take a combination of either mode have seen their median travelling times go up, from 50 to 60 minutes.

The increase in travelling times was pinned down to an increase travel distances, according to the Department of Statistics.

This could be due to the increase in the number of residents in estates including Sengkang and Punggol, located further from the Central Business District.

There's some good news to be gleaned from the numbers though.

Since 2010, with the opening of the Circle, Downtown, and the first stage of the Thomson-East Coast MRT lines, the proportion of those taking public transport to work has gone up.

57.7% of employed residents currently take a combination of the bus, MRT, or LRT to work. This figure stood at 54.6% in 2010.

And there's some good news from the census data for our struggling cabbies and PHV drivers as well, with the proportion that are now only relying on taxis or PHVs having increased from 1.3% to 3.0% over the past 10 years.