Abstract
The paper discusses the circuity of public transport in Singapore, which is defined as the ratio of distance travelled in a transit network over the shortest Euclidean distance from an origin to a destination. As Singapore adopts a distance-based fare system for charging travel costs, it essentially means that the consequence of a more circuitous route is doubly compounded. A longer transit route would translate to higher travel fares, on top of the already longer time spent in transit. As such, circuity is relevant with regards to study the distribution of transport equity in Singapore. This study investigates the disparity in distances travelled according to the potential transit circuity by tying in the different types of estates - public, private, or mixed - and its implications on travel times and costs. The analysis is done with data scraped using Google Map’s Distance Matrix API that includes distance travelled and time spent on the route between an Origin-Destination, combined with subzone dwelling type data and fare data collected from Land Transport Authority’s fare calculator. Results showed that in Singapore, circuity actually increases with decreasing distance to the downtown core and that private estates are more likely to have circuitous routes. Dissecting routes between each Origin-Destination, it is also found that journeys completed using only buses are generally more circuitous and that journeys completed with both buses and trains could potentially lower circuity. Overall, this study underscored the role of circuity in determining equity distribution with respect to travel fares and travel time across the three different types of estates.