Singapore's traffic woes are minor: US don

Urban planning specialist says local policies have kept roads here flowing and gridlock-free
Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 18 Jan 08;

MOTORISTS grumpy about being stuck in traffic jams should count themselves lucky that gridlock does not happen here, an American urban planning specialist said.

Singapore has, through vehicle ownership and usage policies, managed to give owners the freedom to drive their cars amid just limited amounts of congestion, said Professor Alan Altshuler, who teaches urban policy and planning at Harvard University in the United States.

His practical experience in managing transport issues comes from having served as Massachusetts' first Secretary of Transportation from 1971 to 1975.

Of Singapore roads, he observed: 'Occasionally one does get caught in traffic jams near downtown and at peak periods. But it's amazing how most of the roads are flowing pretty freely even during the peak hours.'

He gave The Straits Times an exclusive interview on Tuesday, ahead of his public lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy this evening, titled 'Lessons Not To Learn From American Cities'.

Referring to Singapore's use of the Electronic Road Pricing system, high fuel taxes and the certificate of entitlement scheme to balance ownership and usage, Prof Altshuler said: 'Virtually no one else has these tools.'

He added that these policy tools could be tweaked to adjust to a growing population of people and cars and increasing affluence.

Turning to Japan, he noted that despite its high level of car ownership, usage levels were low because high fuel prices and congestion kept cars off the road.

Saying he was struck by the common sight of Japanese in residential neighbourhoods polishing their cars, he quipped: 'In Japan, they buy their cars to polish them, not to drive them.'

His public lecture will explain why the American system is not the way to go either.

No real solution has been found for congestion there. Cities just grow larger.

He explained: 'The principle has been to sprawl. The more roads you create, the lower the density. Traffic spreads out...That's not been a conscious policy for congestion control. That strategy is no longer as effective as it used to be.'

The average American's heavy reliance on his car has also made the country's average per-head energy usage and greenhouse emissions six times that of the world average, and eight times the Asian average.

And it is not true to say that Americans own that many cars because they can afford to, Prof Altshuler added.

The US and high-income Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore have comparable regional Gross Domestic Products per capita: US$31,400 (S$45,012) in the US versus the US$31,600 average in the high-income Asian cities.

Yet, car usage patterns are so different across these cities.

The figure for passenger kilometre per capita - how many kilometres of road each person uses - is 18,150 in the US but only 3,610 in the Asian cities.

Prof Altshuler pointed to historical factors like the US' commitments to private property, capitalism and taking the lead in motor-vehicle production among the reasons for its problem.

The concern now is whether emerging economic powerhouses such as China and India will follow the US model or that of high-income Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore, he said.