Build Back Better

Tapping changes in commuting patterns to rethink concepts

Above: An ST Engineering Strobo autonomous bus at the Autonomous Mobility Summit in Singapore in 2019. The pandemic has catalysed the transport industry's efforts to reinvent itself. LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE PHOTO Left: The ComfortDelGro workshop in Bradde
An ST Engineering Strobo autonomous bus at the Autonomous Mobility Summit in Singapore in 2019. The pandemic has catalysed the transport industry’s efforts to reinvent itself. LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE PHOTO
Above: An ST Engineering Strobo autonomous bus at the Autonomous Mobility Summit in Singapore in 2019. The pandemic has catalysed the transport industry's efforts to reinvent itself. LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE PHOTO Left: The ComfortDelGro workshop in Bradde
The ComfortDelGro workshop in Braddell last month. When Singaporeans began working from home, public transport usage fell and taxi and private-hire car drivers' incomes plummeted. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
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When Singaporeans began working from home, public transport usage fell and taxi and private-hire car drivers' incomes plummeted, as the dreaded morning commute became a thing of the past.

But even after the circuit breaker was lifted and workers were given the green light to return to their offices, ridership remains lower than it was before the pandemic hit.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 16, 2021, with the headline Tapping changes in commuting patterns to rethink concepts. Subscribe