Singapore is stepping up a gear towards a car-lite future, with the formation of a new panel to study how public transport can be easier on children and the elderly.
“My aspiration is that families who now own cars because they need to ferry their children or their elderly parents will not need to do so any more in the future,” said Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health Lam Pin Min following the reveal of the panel.
Family-friendly public transport “lies at the heart of a family-friendly nation”, he added.
The new Family-Friendly Transport Advisory Panel will be co-chaired by Public Transport Council chairman Richard Magnus and Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport. The panel will be made up of representatives from “diverse backgrounds” who will consult widely, said Dr Lam.
Public transport facilities should be “user-friendly and accessible for commuters with various needs” as Singapore moves towards its car-lite vision, the Land Transport Authority said last year when it announced a slew of inclusive and family-friendly initiatives.
While such initiatives can make public transport more inclusive, what is really needed is the “heartware of our commuters“, said Handicaps Welfare Association president Edmund Wan.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 23 June 2017