Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow wants to bring back S'poreans' pride & love for public transportation system

Having worked in the Ministry of Transport (MOT) from 2012 to 2017, Jeffrey Siow did not expect his first posting after the 2025 General Election to be back at MOT.

Let alone returning as Acting Minister for Transport.

However, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told him that he thought Siow could do the job.

"I'm glad that he was confident enough [in me] that I could do the job," Siow said during an interview with local media on Jun. 10.

Siow said that he was "very happy to be back" as it was a rare opportunity for one to return to a place where they have worked before.

Advice from predecessor

One of the first things Siow did was to seek advice from predecessors.

So Siow reached out to Khaw Boon Wan, who supported him and gave him a lot of good advice.

"I worked with him when I was at MOT, and he said he gave me his support and his backing as well."

He shared that one piece of advice Khaw told him was the importance of the "transport family".

"Something consistent with what he himself practised when he was here [in MOT] is that he made the point that we had to be one sort of transport family. Meaning that there are many stakeholders in the system.

You have the operator, you have the government agency, the regulator, you had the commuter, you have the, I suppose, the ministry as well the politicians but all of us have to be pulling in the same direction."

Siow said that Khaw invested a lot of effort in making sure that the stakeholders are on the same page, moving towards the same goals and in the same direction.

Aspirations for Singapore's public transport

Even though it has been a little over a month since Siow was appointed Acting Minister for Transport, one of his aspirations is a lofty one.

He wants to restore "love and pride" in Singapore's public transport system.

"I want to bring back Singaporeans' pride and love for our transportation system...People feel pride in Changi [Airport]. In maritime, I think it's a slightly different problem. I think it's more awareness than anything else, that there are good jobs, a good career. In fact, we're doing really great in terms of our port and PSA."

For public transport though, Siow acknowledges there is more to be done.

"But on the public transport side, I think we can do a lot more, and we will do a lot more."

Especially compared to Singapore's air and sea systems.

"We must make sure that on the public transport side, we run the system well, as well as we have run the air and the sea systems so that Singaporeans can take pride in it"

Siow said that on the whole though, Singapore's system is doing a good job, and while "it is not perfect, it is better than others for the most part".

More importantly, Siow stresses that Singapore's transport system is "ours", and is "unique to us".

And if he can bring that "love and pride" to Singapore's transportation system, he is more confident that they will be able to better manage the "more difficult" things they have to do, and the problems they have to address in the future.

City centre

One specific goal he wishes to focus on is looking at the public transport journeys from places further away from the city centre.

Using the examples of Tengah, Jurong West and Punggol, Siow noted that public transport journey times can be two to three times longer.

"I think for public transport to be truly competitive, for us to achieve our car-lite vision, you have to bring [travel time] to one to two times longer, then it's reasonable. And it is a virtuous cycle, because once you do that, the demand for private transport would be more balanced," he said.

While Siow noted that train rides are quite competitive with driving, more work needs to be done getting to the train station.

"Today, the first and last mile journey, whether you're walking to the train station, whether you're take a feeder bus, that part is not so efficient," he noted.

"So if we can improve the walkability of our HDB estates, if we can diversify the bus networks in the HDB towns, I think we can make a real difference in terms of shortening the public transport journey time."

Manpower chief constraint

Another aspiration is to utilise autonomous vehicles in the public transport system.

"I think autonomous vehicles will make a difference, because right now, bus services take a longer time to be introduced."

Siow explained that introducing a new bus service would require more bus drivers, and they have to be trained, which would take about six months to a year. Buses will also need to be purchased, and depots and interchanges will need to be built.

The chief constraint for transport is manpower, but Siow hopes to remove that constraint with autonomous vehicles.

"The vehicles can be smaller. It doesn't have to be so big. The routes can be changed more flexibly. In fact, you could do short distances.

All in all, I think that will be a significant addition to our public transport network and the technology is already here."

He said he does not doubt that autonomous vehicles will be a reality in Singapore in five years.

"You will see many autonomous vehicles in Singapore, and we will start off probably with fixed routes in HDB estates, taking people safely [...] to where they want to go. Probably to transport nodes first, then subsequently later maybe places of interest," he added.

Siow even went as far as to state that if autonomous vehicles become a reality, it could change the dynamic of driving.

Good public transport

When he first got his posting, Siow shared that he received many "commiserations" from his friends but took it in stride.

"Good public transport is one that I think gets people to where they want to go in the shortest amount of time, at the lowest possible price.

In our business here, we are trying to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and so public transport fits that category," Siow explained.

Siow added that he has been enjoying the job and its "heavy" responsibility, stating that the past few weeks since he took up the role have been "really great".

Siow also spoke about his affection for MOT during his previous stint.

"I love my post, I loved my time here at MOT. We do things that mean something to people. It's something I can talk to my mother about... I'm never short of a dinner conversation topic."

When asked if he was prepared for the fast developments that occur in the transport sector, Siow shared that it was expected, as the job is one that is meaningful to Singaporeans.

"I think people care about what we do, and I think I am very happy to be doing a job where people care. It does mean we have to work at a higher cadence, to respond, to explain, to persuade, to inspire, and in some ways to be ready. But I think it's a good thing.

I would rather be doing something that people care about, incidents notwithstanding, and doing things that help people, make sure that they are well taken care of and improve their lives."

Top photo via Reuben Nathan/Mothership