🚖🚚  VS 🚇🚲 

Transportation is indispensable regardless of how big or small the country is. However, the different modes of transportation make a difference as the emissions it produces varies.

For Singaporeans, the majority of us commute via public transport such as buses and trains. There ought to be some who commute via their personal vehicles due to reasons such as prioritizing convenience, efficiency, and comfort or for commercial use (I.e Taxi drivers or delivery drivers). Even though public transport is accessible and the most widely used, transportation is still one of the main contributors to air pollution in Singapore where it amounts to 14% of Singapore’s emissions as of 2018 (CAT, n.d.; NEA, 2020). Singapore is aware of this and has been constantly putting in concerted effort in reducing carbon emissions. Efforts include the increment of cycling paths, plans for conversion of cars to electric ones, construction of more Mass Rapid Transit railway to ease convenience and efficiency, and the provision of grants for companies to install showering facilities. All these encourage everyone including employees to cycle or use other greener modes of transportation other than personal cars and taxis, as they can shower after sweating from running or cycling to work.

In this blog, I will only examine whether the government’s effort in promoting cycling as another mode of transportation is sufficient and bring up some points which are worth considering if we would like to increase the uptake of cycling and promote the conversion to electric vehicles in the future.

🚲 (Cycling):

While governments’ efforts are well-intentioned, I think that more could be done as a survey done by my group for an Environmental Competition to understand what discourages people from cycling to work or consider cycling as another mode of transportation, have gathered some thoughts that people have despite government’s current efforts:

“Cycling and showering require more time and it will compromise on productivity.”

“In a fast-paced society, people just want to get to work fast.”

“I am lazy.”

“It’s troublesome to cycle to work.”

Moreover, our tropical climate is an important factor to consider as we would expect frequent rain or experience hot and humid weather, making it less ideal to cycle in. Some suggested that to curb this issue, sheltered/underground cycling paths could be built. However, I personally think that this would cost a lot of resources (I.e monetary, building resources, time, and manpower) thus decreasing its feasibility. Other concerns include a lack of bicycle parking lots, vandalism or theft of bicycles, having tracks designated just for cycling and not shared with pedestrians to ensure people get to their destination/workplace faster and safer(75% of respondents responded that they will be motivated to cycle to their destination if there is an application showing safe and shortest route). While 25% of the respondents mentioned that they will not be motivated with such an application as they are either lazy, don’t know how to cycle, concerned with hot or rainy weather, and the limited bicycle parking lots. Hence if the government wants to increase the uptake rate of cycling, they might need to address these concerns in order to encourage cycling as another mode of transportation and not just for leisure purposes. 

🚙 (Cars):

On to the idea of converting motor vehicles to electric vehicles, at first sight, it might seem ideal and perfect. However on second thoughts, as Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Kiat aims to increase charging points to 28,000 from a current 1,600 (Kuttan, 2020), it makes me wonder how the government would go about ensuring sufficient green energy to charge electric vehicles. As one electric vehicle would require 10 solar panels or around 30kilowwatt hour(kWh) for full charge and one solar panel produce 4kWh a day with full sunshine, the question is then: how many solar panels do we need to power all the electric vehicles in the future, apart from the 230,000 solar panels that the government plans to use to generate electricity for our homes (Ang, 2019)? Or would the cars be powered by power plants?

You may take a look at this documentary below by ChannelNews Asia which finds out how green are electric vehicles.

From the video above, it shows that in China, the time people choose to charge their electric vehicles matter because, during peak periods, more power generators are activated to meet the spike in demands for electricity for charging. This will then increase carbon emissions for each kWh of electricity generated. However if the electricity comes from solar panels, there would be lesser carbon emissions in the long run. Therefore, it is a lesson for Singapore as it allows us to consider how we would like to go about implementing electric charging infrastructure to prevent our green initiative and intention from going off track(I.e emitting more emissions). 

Nevertheless similar to the cycling efforts that Singapore is doing, I think that the government has to address concerns relating to electric vehicles like how long the battery lasts for each charge, how long it takes to charge and how to help consumers better adapt to their behavioral changes(I.e find electric charging spots and wait some time for it to fully charge) when switched to using electric vehicles. With most of the concerns addressed, only then will the consumers be motivated to make the switch. Otherwise, the government’s efforts might go to waste when little people are convinced or able to make the switch. 

To sum all up, yes, like what the host mentioned in the video that as we move from empathy towards action, it is already something worth celebrating as we are putting in the effort to save our environment. However, apart from just rolling out ideas and hope that the masses adopt ideas magically, it is of utmost importance for the government to know the concerns of the users and address them so that people would have lesser worries and be more convinced to make the switch to greener modes of transportation. This would also apply to other ideas that the government wishes the public to adopt. I sincerely hope that the government would consider my two cents worth which may help them achieve their plans more successfully, once they are rolled out.

Do comment below on what you think is the root problem that hinders people from adopting the ideas introduced by our government. Also, I would appreciate it if you share this blog with relevant agencies so they have some view of what they can do to increase the uptake rate of these ideas.

Your environmental buddy,
Zhi Yong

References:

Ang, H. (2019, October 29). Singapore sets solar energy target for 2030 that would provide enough power for 350,000 homes. Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/solar-power-target-energy-350000-homes-2030-hdb-rooftops-12042228

ChannelNews Asia. (2019, June 20). CNA | Coming Clean About Green | E02: Is Green Technology Really Helping The Planet? [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/m02aUhX8qYI

Climate Action Tracker. (n.d.). Singapore. Retrieved from https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/singapore/ 

Kuttan, S. (2020, February 23). Commentary: Electric vehicles will take over Singapore. But here’s what must happen first. Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/singapore-budget-2020-electric-vehicles-ice-ves-hybrid-car-2040-12457240 

Nation Environment Agency. (2020, October 14). Air Quality. Retrieved from https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/pollution-control/air-pollution/air-quality