ELDERLY AND COMMUTERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

ELDERLY AND COMMUTERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS:

(Transport policy): 14.

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng asked the Minister for Transport what is the transport policy pertaining to the elderly and to commuters with special needs.

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Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Sir, our land transport system strives to meet the diverse needs of commuters, including the elderly and those with special needs.

LTA has embarked on various initiatives to make our public transport system more accessible and user-friendly to the elderly and the less mobile. These include introducing wheelchair accessible buses, making our MRT stations barrier-free, and implementing barrier-free routes within 400 metres radius of all MRT stations. Besides catering to the less mobile, these barrier-free routes also have decision tactiles and contrasting colour strips to guide the visually impaired at crossings and pedestrian overhead bridges. The bus stops, road kerbs and other road facilities are also being upgraded to enable senior citizens and others with mobility difficulties to get around more easily.

While it is crucial to put in the necessary infrastructure for the elderly and commuters with special needs, the support of other commuters is just as important. Hence, the public transport operators have regularly implemented public education initiatives, such as courtesy programmes, roadshows and school talks to promote gracious behaviour among commuters. For example, SBST and LTA launched a public education programme to seek commuters' understanding and patience when the bus driver helps wheelchair bound passengers to board and to alight from the buses.

Going forward, the LTA will continue to enhance our land transport system to meet the varied needs of the population as we move towards a more socially inclusive society.

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, I applaud the Ministry and the public transport operators' messages to the commuting public to be patient and to accept that the disabled and the elderly have to integrate into society and to

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participate actively. My supplementary question is whether our economy would be better served if, instead of enabling barrier-free accesses on the public transport network, we provide dedicated transport links or services reserved for the elderly and the disabled because the former would obviously come with a cost to the general economy, slowing down the public network for example. Or, should we do both?

Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Like in all these things, it is a matter of balance. So where there is a special need or a need to cater to specific people with difficulties, we will do so. If you look at, say, what the National Council for Social Services is doing, for instance, they provide various forms of assistance in terms of transport, eg, subsidies for contract buses to take care of some of these people. So it is a balance. For the general public transport, we need to ensure that it is also accessible for those with mobility difficulties. For those whose needs are greater, then a more dedicated approach, as the Member has suggested.

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, can I ask the Minister if there is a target date of completion to ensure that, either through a combination of public or dedicated transport modes, our elderly and the disabled will be well served in Singapore?

Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: I think this is an on-going process. It is not so much as an end date. It is something that we have to continually do. If we take, for instance, the wheelchair-accessible buses that we have started, I think within five years, one out of two buses will be wheelchair-accessible. So it is an on-going thing.