Getting around Singapore (Options and Fees)

When moving to a new place, whether it's going to work or shopping, you need a way to go from place A to place B. Singapore is no exception. In this article, we will talk about transportation in Singapore.

Owning a car in Singapore is very costly

If you are like me, who went everywhere with a car, you may have to change this after moving to Singapore. For environmental protection and better urban planning, the Singapore government has actively promoted the concept of Car-Lite in recent years. As a result, the cost of owning a car become very high. The price of a car is usually 2 - 3 times higher compared to that of other countries. However, taking public transportation is very convenient and affordable in Singapore, you can pretty much go anywhere even if you do not own a car.

How high is the cost of owning a car in Singapore? First of all, before owning a car, you need to have a COE, which can only be obtained through bidding. Basically, it means you need to bid for a certificate to own a car before owning a car. Based on this year's price, it costs about 50,000 Singapore dollars.

In addition, because of the tax, the price of cars in Singapore is much higher than other places. Taking Honda’s popular car model Fit as an example, it costs about 1.6 million yen in Japan, and S$145,000 (around 14 million yen) in Singapore. In other words, for the same Honda Fit, the price is almost 9 times in Singapore compared to Japan. Crazy!

I was really shocked when I saw the price of a car in Singapore before, especially compared to Japan, the price of the same car in Singapore is really sky-high. This is why when you first arrive in Singapore, unless you are a very rich person, you will not buy a car as a means of transportation. If you don't rely on a car, what should you rely on? In Singapore, there are three types of transportation: MRT, buses, and taxis.

MRT (Singapore subway)

One of the most convenient public transportation in Singapore is definitely the MRT (Singapore subway). I would recommend it to those who have just come to Singapore and are not familiar with Singapore transportation.

The subway currently has six lines, and almost all scenic spots and commercial centers can be reached by MRT. For example, the CBD (Central Business District), where all large commercial companies gather in Singapore, has several MRT stations.

At MRT stations with multiple lines, if you want to transfer to a different line, it is very easy. In addition to the super fast escalators, there will be pedestrian conveyor belts like airports, and the speeds are also very fast.

For commuters, because of these facilities, it will not take too much time to transfer lines when taking a MRT. At the same time, because the MRT stations are basically completely covered by air-conditioning, you will not be sweating profusely when you transfer.

Because the MRT is very convenient, and most people work in the CBD (Central Business District), when renting a house in Singapore, most people will mention that as long as it is a station within the circle of the Yellow Circle Line (see the image below), are acceptable living range. Taking Serangoon Station on the Yellow Line as an example, if you live here and go to the Downtown Station in the CBD (Central Business District), you can commute within 40 minutes, and the cost is about S$3 Singapore dollars ($2.3 USD) for a round trip.

It is recommended to use EZ-Link for transportation cards, which can be purchased at the service counters of MRT stations, and it is quite convenient to add value. If you have an iPhone, you can also use Apple Pay to take the MRT directly. In Singapore, many people directly use their mobile phones to tap the gates to enter and exit.

Bus

Buses in Singapore are also quite convenient, because there are bus stops almost everywhere, and sometimes it is even more convenient to take the bus than the subway. The bus stops in Singapore have some characteristics. They usually have awnings and chairs, so you can wait for the bus comfortably no matter it is raining heavily or on a sunny day.

But in Singapore, you need to pay attention to some things. First of all, the bus will not stop by itself, unless someone happens to get off at that stop, otherwise if you don’t take the initiative to wave, the bus driver will drive past without slowing down. So be sure to wave to the bus you want to take.

After getting into a bus, remember to swipe your transportation card (you can also use EZ-Link) to get on and off the bus. In some countries, you only need to swipe the card when you get on the bus, or you only need to swipe the card when you get off the bus, but in Singapore, you must swipe both when getting on and off the bus.

The last thing to note is that the bus in Singapore will not show the name of the stop on the bus, so if you want to get off the bus, you must pay attention when you are approaching the stop. If you are not familiar with it at first, it is recommended to use Google Map. Before the bus is about to reach your destination, be sure to press the bell. (Noted in Jan 2023: in some new buses, there will be a station name information on the bus)

For the cost part, if you take the bus from Serangoon to the Downtown Station in the CBD, the round-trip cost is about 3.2 SGD. In fact, the cost is similar to that of the MRT, but the ride time will be longer. However, if you live closer to the bus station, it is actually recommended to take the bus directly so that you can save walking time.

Taxi

In addition to the above two kinds of public transportation, you can also choose a taxi if you want to move around in Singapore. Taking a taxi in Singapore is basically the same as anywhere else. You can choose to hail an empty taxi or use an app to call a taxi.

If you want to hail a taxi by waving, the status of the taxi will be displayed on the taxi. If it taking other passengers, it will display Hired. When you see this kind of taxi, you can avoid waving, because they will not stop if you do.

In addition, because many roads in Singapore cannot park on the roadside, it is not recommended to use the way of waving. Instead, you can go to Taxi Stand (many places have it), if there is no taxi there, you can press the red button in the stand, and it will call a taxi for you.

As for using APP to call a car, there are no Uber and Lyft in Singapore. If you use Uber in Singapore, its app will direct you to its local partner — Grab. The most famous taxi app in Singapore is Grab. However, in addition to Grab, many local people also use Gojek, RYDE, TADA, CDG Zig and other APPs. The usage of this type of APP is basically the same as Uber.

After selecting the location, there will be an estimated price. The price will vary with time, location and other factors. As for the cost, under normal circumstances, taking Grab for a 10-minute journey (about 2.8 km) will cost about 9.3 ~ 13.3 Singapore dollars ($7 ~ $10 USD).