Modernisation and Incorporation: The Development of Singapore's Bus Services 1945–1974

Abstract

Although modernisation and incorporation of public transport systems in cities of developing countries have often been acknowledged, few studies have been made of this process in detail or of the possible causal factors. In Singapore, the bus services have changed from a disjointed system involving eleven companies to a unified operation, but this modernisation did not occur smoothly, nor did it follow inevitably from changes in demand, land use, or technology. Instead, there were several countervailing factors which included a lack of resources, both by operators and by government, the depredations of pirate taxis, and, for much of the period under discussion, a lack of political commitment to public transport. This last factor appeared only after the government had consolidated power, and opposition from interested parties had been disarmed. The complexity of the modernisation and incorporation process is highlighted.