Written by Titus Sasmoko
It is quite shocking when one arrives in Singapore for the first time. Apart from the modern atmosphere of this island-slash-city-slash-nation, newcomers are greeted with an efficient public transport system, especially startling for us Indonesians who are accustomed to personal commute (whether reckless motorcycle riding motorcycle or accident-prone car driving).
The differences are magnified when we compare Singapore’s transport system with our own. Personally, I’ve heard humorously horrific stories regarding how Kopajas and other buses stop and go at their personal, reckless will. TransJakartas receive a lot complains as well. (FYI, I’m not from Jakarta, so these are strictly stories; I apologize in advance for any unintended hyperbole.)
Anyhow, the experience with public transport modes in Singapore is rather exciting. The way I personally see it, is being chauffeured, everywhere. Riding a motorcycle in city is faster, but it tires you as you need to concentrate on the traffic flow and avoid crashing or being crashed. Driving a car is like lugging around 1.6 tonne of useless metal, especially if you are trapped in a suicide-inducing traffic jam. Compared to stepping into a bus or a train and sit down (or stand up if there’s no seat to put your bum on), public transport is much more relaxing. Not to mention that personal vehicle ownership is not encouraged here, what with all the taxes and levies and ERPs…
Get an EZ-Link card
The EZ-Link card is your ticket to public transportation. If you’ve been to Singapore before, you’d know. It is basically a fare card which you can use on MRTs, buses, and some cabs (usually SMRT cabs); all you need to do is just tap, and you wouldn’t need to use coins or buy a single trip MRT card. You can get an EZ-Link card in any MRT station. If you go to a government-funded tertiary institution (NTU/NUS/SMU), you can get a concession EZ-Link card from your school’s office. It gives you an option to buy either a bus or train concession, which enables you to pay a monthly fee in exchange for unlimited access to the public transport of your choice. Very economical if you live a long way from school.
The EZ-Link Card
Be detailed
The first step to accustom yourself to the transport system is to be detailed. This advice comes from a person as directionally challenged as Captain James ‘Slow’ May of Top Gear. That person is me, actually. Anyway, prepare a complete address of the destination you want to go and your current location (your staying place, or the paving or tile you’re standing). This includes the block number, street name, unit number, and postal codes. With this on your arsenal, nothing can go wrong.
Start with GoThere.sg
And then you ask, how else can these information help? Well, my answer to that is gothere.sg (a site which my Diaspora friends have also lauded in their list of useful websites). This site is my powerful weapon, a nuke if you will, to go to a new territory in Singapore. There is a search bar on the top left corner of the page, then enter your current location followed by ‘to’ and the destination. For example, ’238 Bukit Batok Central to 501 Jelapang Road’. The site will then show you various modes of transport you can utilise, from strictly buses, buses and trains, taxis, to driving yourself, complete with fares, bus stops’ and train stations’ names, how many stops, and estimated travel time, in order to reach your destination.
Postal codes are very, very helpful
Now, if you have postal codes to enter, please do. Yes, postal codes. Every postal code in Singapore is usually tagged to a particular building/place, and it’s very useful for you and other people (e.g. cab uncles). The code will exactly replace the alphanumeric version of the building address, so if you are as magically good with numbers as Joe Sandy, you will probably find this postal thing a powerful tool in hunting down addresses. The site also recognizes place names, such as the Cathay in Dhoby Ghaut, Fort Canning Park, and various private apartments.
However, as per my personal observation, the route offered by the site may not always be the most efficient. There are several routes that can be more efficient; unfortunately, you really have to go to that place and find out yourself. Nevertheless, this site provides you with a foolproof way of getting from A to B. FYI, the site calculates all those information real time, taking into account the time and date you enter the addresses as the time you would travel, and the probable traffic situation. This is particularly useful in determining whether you would get first train or late-night buses if coming home late from parties.
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
The simplest way to get around Singapore (cheaply) is through the train. Also known as the MRT (an abbreviation of Mass Rapid Transit), the train is probably the safest way to get around for newbies. Starting out with the North-South Line (or the Red Line, which includes Orchard, Somerset, and City Hall) and the East-West Line (or the Green Line, which includes Changi Airport, Clementi, and City Hall, too), the MRT has been expanded to include the North-East Line (the Purple Line, which includes Dhoby Ghaut, Little India, and Harbourfront) and, more recently, the Circle Line (it’s yellow, but people don’t really call it the Yellow Line; it includes Dhoby Ghaut, Esplanade, and Holland Village). Other lines, such as the Downtown Line, are currently under construction to further serve more areas. MRTs usually start operating at around 6 AM every morning (though it varies from station to station), and would end at midnight, around 12 AM.
MRT stations that serve more than one line are called “interchanges”; these include Jurong East (Red and Green), City Hall (Red and Green), and Dhoby Ghaut (Red, Purple, Circle). You can see the map below.
After alighting and tapping out your EZ-Link, check out the vicinity map, which usually is located nearby ticket machine. The map will always include exit routes of the MRT station, so that you could locate the nearest exit to your destination. And if the destination is not included in the map, asking passerbys for help would do.
Buses
Buses are more convenient than MRTs; there are so many more bus stops compared to MRT stations in Singapore. If you’re lucky, you’ll even have one right in front of your house/other particular destination. But buses are also more complicated; there are many different routes indicated by the different bus numbers, and you really need to know which one to take. Not to mention, sometimes bus arrival times are unreliable.
But what if you have no choice but to take a bus, and yet you do not know where to stop? GoThere.sg is your savior once more. The site supplies the number of stops the bus will pass along the way, and one way is to count the stops one by one. Quite time-killing if you’re travelling from Boon Lay to East Coast Park. Another way is to pick ‘marker’ stops along the journey, preferably landmarks that you recognize, so as to keep track of your journey. My preference is to know the last three stops from your destination, and locate yourself in the bus where you could see the bus-stops’ plank that indicates the stops’ name. Or just look out for buildings whose name corresponds to the bus stop name.
Something that you always need to check is the route plan installed on every stops. This board contains bus numbers and their routes, complete with fares. Check whether the bus you’re looking will stop at this halt, and whether the bus will go to your destination in the right direction, not the opposite. You need to be aware of this, so that you would not be arriving in a bus interchange without a clue on what just happened.
Another thing to note about buses is the Night Rider. These are buses that operate after hours on weekends; the numbers start with “NR” in front. They are basically there to serve clubbers and other creatures of the night with affordable transportation (remember that cabs charge extra after midnight). Their routes would usually go from the city area (Orchard or Clarke Quay), all the way to the heartlands (Hougang, Toa Payoh).
Cabs
Cabs are expensive, but they’re also convenient. They’re your best friends during rainy days, post-midnight journeys, and late-for-class mornings. Of course, there are different types of cabs, with different fare structures (Mercedes-Benz cabs are obviously more expensive than normal Hyundai Sonatas; think of it as Silver Bird and Blue Bird). The most popular cab company in Singapore would have to be Comfort Delgro: they operate the blue Comfort taxis and yellow City Cabs. One thing that makes them so popular is the ability to pay with NETS or credit card, instead of just cash; it helps if you don’t really know how much the fare will cost you.
When taking cabs, however, there are surcharges that you need to be aware of. This can make cab fares substantially more expensive at certain times. Do see the table below for more information:
Sometimes there can be instances where you flag down an empty cab but it won’t stop. Don’t worry; this happens usually right before midnight. The cab uncles are looking for passengers after 12 midnight, when they will receive a 50% surcharge. Not the most ideal thing, but what can you do.
There you go! Hopefully now you can make your way around Singapore safely, smartly, and conveniently.
