Buses Bus transport forms a significant part of public transport in Singapore, with over 4.0 million rides taken per day on average as of 2019. There are more than 365 scheduled bus services, operated by
SBS Transit,
SMRT Buses,
Tower Transit Singapore and
Go-Ahead Singapore. There are also around 5,800 buses, most of which are
single-deck and
double-deck, and a small minority of
articulated buses and minibuses currently in active passenger service. Since 2016, the Land Transport Authority regulates the public bus service standards and owns relevant assets whereas bus operators bid for operating bus services via competitive tendering, under its
Bus Contracting Model.
Taxis and PHVs Taxis and
private hire vehicles (PHV) are a popular form of transport, with fares considered low compared to those in most cities in developed countries. Starting rates were $3.20 - $3.90. As of March 2019, the taxi and private hire car population has been increased to 83,037. In Singapore,
taxis can be flagged down at any time of the day along any public road outside of the
Central Business District (CBD), while
private hire cars can only be booked via
ridesharing apps.
Private cars As of 2018, there was a total of 957,006 motor vehicles in Singapore, with 509,302 of them being private cars. Private transport (cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles) is less commonly used as due to limited land space of the country. The
Land Transport Authority (LTA) has limited and controlled the population of privately owned vehicles in the country through the Vehicle Quota System (VQS) ownership market-based license auctions since 1990. As a result, private vehicles are prohibitively expensive and Singapore is known to be most expensive country in the world to own a car. Prospective private vehicle owners are required to place a bid for a
Certificate of Entitlement (COE) sold under auction (valid for ten years, as of May 2024; COEs are priced at more than S$92,700 for CAT A cars [below 97bhp], S$105,689 for bigger CAT B cars [above 97bhp], S$72,001 for prospective commercial vehicle owners and more than S$9,311 for prospective motorcycle owners) and pay the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) tax imposed at 100-320% of the open market value (OMV) of the vehicle, among other fees. As a result of the aforementioned taxes, on-the-road car prices in Singapore are approximately five times the on-the-road car prices in Western countries.
Roads and expressways Singapore pioneered
congestion pricing (the market-based usage management of public roads to reduce congestion at specific times within the city centre and certain expressways), with the
Singapore Area Licensing Scheme, which has since been replaced with the
Electronic Road Pricing, a form of
electronic toll collection. • Total length of expressways: 164 km • Total length of major arterial roads: 576 km • Total length of collector roads: 704 km • Total length of local access roads: 2056 km (as of 2017) Traffic
drives on the left which is typical in
Commonwealth countries. The planning, construction and maintenance of the road network is fully conducted by the
Land Transport Authority (LTA), and this extends to expressways in Singapore. These form key transport arteries between the distinct towns and
regional centres as laid out in
Singapore's urban planning, with the main purpose of allowing vehicles to travel from satellite towns to the city centre and vice versa in the shortest possible distance. These expressways include: •
Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) •
Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) •
Central Expressway (CTE) •
East Coast Parkway (ECP) •
Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) •
Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) •
Kranji Expressway (KJE) •
Pan Island Expressway (PIE) •
Seletar Expressway (SLE) •
Tampines Expressway (TPE) •
North–South Corridor (scheduled opening in 2027) The influence of expressways on Singapore's transport policy developed shortly after independence during the
history of Singapore because of frequent
traffic congestion in the Central district. The aim was to encourage residential development in other parts of the island and give residents in these new "satellite towns" a convenient link between their homes and their workplaces (which were mostly situated around the city centre).
Causeway and link bridge Singapore has two land links to
Malaysia. The
Johor-Singapore Causeway, built in the 1920s to connect
Johor Bahru in
Johor, Malaysia to
Woodlands in Singapore, carries a road and a railway line. The
Tuas Second Link, a bridge further west, was completed in 1996 and links
Tuas in Singapore to
Tanjung Kupang in Johor.
Trishaws Before World War II,
rickshaws were an important part of urban public transportation. In 1947 they were banned on humanitarian grounds, and replaced by
trishaws (cycle rickshaws). Usage of
trishaws as a means of transportation had died out by 1983. Some trishaws then served as tourist attractions, taking tourists for a ride around the downtown district. Individual trishaw rider licenses were last issued in 2001, while the last licensed operator of trishaw tours, Trishaw Uncle, ended its contract with the
Singapore Tourism Board at the end of May 2023. As of April 2024, there are no commercial trishaw services operating in Singapore.
Autonomous vehicles An autonomous shuttle service operated by the Chinese autonomous shuttle company
WeRide began operations in June 2024 at
Resorts World Sentosa. It became fully driverless in July 2025. On 1 April 2026, an autonomous shuttle service, officially known as the
Autonomous Intelligent Ride (Ai.R), began operations in Punggol. 2 main routes and 1 experimental mini route opened to the public. The routes are operated by
Grab and WeRide. Another route, operated by
ComfortDelGro and
Pony.ai, began by-invite community rides on 7 April 2026. ==Rail transport==