I recently decided to try out the new Walking Train Map which is meant to encourage commuters to walk between stations, where possible.

I got on the Downtown Line and exited at Rochor station, intending to hop on the same line again at Jalan Besar station - a five-minute walk away, according to the map.

Bypassing the city loop would save me about 10 minutes.

However, at Rochor station, there were no signs indicating which exit I should take.

To make matters worse, the map in the station had no indication of where Jalan Besar station was, despite it being a mere five minutes away.

The extra time spent whipping out Google Maps, finding my bearings and navigating my way to Jalan Besar negated any time saved.

As the Health Promotion Board promotes its programme to take 10,000 steps daily, good signage and city planning can motivate everyone to increase their physical activity.

People will be prepared to walk more if it is convenient and if it is going to save time.

Walking while commuting can be an important contributor to daily physical activity and could be encouraged by making it easy end-to-end.

While Singapore is on the way towards becoming an advanced city, more can be done to facilitate commuting efficiency and, in doing so, promote a more walkable, healthy city.

Mary Ann Tay (Ms)