Land Transport Authority

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation In March 1995, Communications Minister Mah Bow Tan announced that a new statutory board, the Land Transport Authority (LTA), would be established to oversee all matters related to rail and road transportation. The LTA would be a merger of the roads and transport division of the Public Works Department, the Registry of Vehicles and the land transport division of the Ministry of Communications. The proposed agency was planned to be established within the next two years. With the passing of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Bill in August that year, the LTA was established on 1 September 1995 with Fock Siew Wah as its first chairman. 1996 Land Transport White Paper On 2 January 1996, the LTA published the 1996 Land Transport White Paper, titled "A World Class Land Transport System". It outlined the government plans. Changes to existing schemes were proposed along with schemes were introduced across various transport sectors. This included the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme, which eventually become ubiquitous in the city state. 1996 Rail Financing Framework The 1996 Rail Financing Framework was a scheme that set out the financing framework of the rail transport system. In the white paper, it was phrased that the financing framework of the rail transport system would eventually be run on the basis of partnership, which the government and its regulatory authority would provide the assets and infrastructure (which remain fully owned by the regulatory authority), with commuters paying for the operating costs and operators extracting efficiency dividends within standards and fares set by the regulatory authority. The framework allowed for an open up of the rail transport market with the operation aspects of the industry no longer tied to the authorities, allowing for more autonomy of the incumbent operator and new operators to enter the market. This also laid the foundation for the restructure and flotation of SMRT Corporation, previously a state-owned incumbent operator under the name Mass Rapid Transit Corporation, in 2000. Subsequently, the MRT logo was replaced in 2001 into the yellow and green logo and was designed after the privatisation of SMRT Corporation and SBS currently operates the North East Line, Sengkang LRT and Punggol LRT. The framework was revised in 2008 as the New Rail Financing Framework (NRFF), which saw the regulatory authority re-assuming the full ownership of all rail assets, where the ownership and maintenance of which were previously held responsible under the individual operators. Changes to public transport To meet with the increasing number of commuters in Singapore, Land Transport Authority exercises on new changes over time. Rail LTA is responsible for the development of the rapid transit system and the expansion of the rail network. It aims to double the rail network by 2030. Since 2008, LTA has increased the length of Singapore's rail network from 138 km to about 180 km with the opening of the Boon Lay Extension in 2009, the Circle Line from 2009 to 2011 and the Circle Line Extension in 2012. Downtown Line, Thomson–East Coast Line are underway towards completion, with Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line under construction. Half-height platform screen doors were installed in all 36 elevated stations in 2012 for the safety of passengers and to reduce delays in train service from track intrusions. HVLS fans are also installed at all elevated stations starting from 1 June 2012 and ending on 6 January 2013. After some MRT delays in late 2025 resulted in commuters' complaints that the delays were not announced on social media, the LTA stated on 3 December 2025 that the LTA, SMRT and SBS would focus on a "more localised approach to communicate minor delays" of under 30 minutes by providing "localised communications" at MRT stations affected by the delays. The Straits Times then surveyed 44 commuters who generally objected to the failure to announce the delays on social media, as only discovering about the delays at the affected MRT stations would make it too late to plan alternative routes, with more than half of the commuters preferring social media announcements for the delays. On 12 December 2025, the LTA stated that it would provide a new website for real-time information on both major and minor MRT delays, but maintained that it would not announce minor delays on social media. Bus LTA took on the role of the bus route planning with the introduction of Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP) and Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP). Under BSEP, about 80 new services are being introduced and 1,000 buses are being added over five years. Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP): 31 bus services Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP): 15 bus services Quality of Service (QoS) standards have also been tightened to reduce waiting time and reduce crowding. Now, those with increased loads run every 10 minutes or less during weekday peak hours in 2015. Feeder bus services have become more frequent too, with 95% of bus services now running at intervals of 10 minutes or less during the weekday peak periods, tightened from 85%. Announced in 2014, the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) which took effect on 1 September 2016, saw LTA assuming the full ownership of all bus assets in Singapore. In 2025, the Land Transport Authority approved testing of 11 autonomous vehicles on two Punggol shuttle routes by WeRide and Grab, with the aim of allowing public passengers by early 2026. Road projects Investment in road projects ensures that the economy will be ably supported with a strong and ever-improving transport infrastructure and coordinated system. One such project is the introduction of the Parking Guidance System (PGS) in the city and HarbourFront area to guide drivers to the nearest parking facility with available parking spaces, reducing the need for vehicles to cruise around to find empty parking spaces. As part of investment in road projects, LTA will also be expanding the EMAS signages and upgrading the oldest EMAS signages in the expressways. To improve road safety, LTA implemented a variety of road engineering measures, such as adding pedestrian crossing lines with enhanced dash markings, traffic calming markings and "pedestrian crossing ahead" road markings in more locations in 2009. "Your Speed Signs", electronic signs displaying the speed of a passing vehicle, were also introduced so that motorists could be more aware of their speeds and would be more likely to keep to the speed limit. Road studs which flash in tandem with the green man signal at traffic junctions were also installed at more locations to alert motorists to stop for crossing pedestrians. LTA is not responsible for reminding vehicle owners to scan their Autopass card when exiting Singapore. Gallery References External links Official website Land Transport Masterplan 2013 ONE.MOTORING – information portal for Singapore motorists Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine MyTransport.SG – a portal providing information and eServices for all land transport users Pay ERP charges via credit card Archived 1 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine Singapore Public Transport portal LTA latest press releases