This was a great video and I loved seeing Singapore again! I've been there many times, and my brother-in-law used to live there. Singapore has so many great walkable places, but it also has some very uninviting car-centric places as well. Singapore has the potential to be so much better, but videos like this one are necessary to show people what needs to be done.
pavement castrates. bums DON'T run. the whole failed civilization is about preventing hoards of marauding, bums running around everywhere. but if bums CAN'T run - life sucks ... drug addicts everywhere .... NO ONE exercises (except indoors)
If this is your first video, I hope you keep going. This was a great analysis -- we loved seeing the ideas applied to Singapore and learning about it through your eyes.
thank you too, for introducing the concept of Stroads to me! your site is truly an eye opener and it's always interesting to read up about how things are like in North America (:
A republican is supposed to hate brown people, you went to the wrong neighborhood lol. I agree with your assessment of the problem but dear God stop being republican
I think it's very interesting that Singapore made the same changes to the streets to make them more car friendly, thus creating stroads, but they didn't bulldoze the buildings alongside them like the US did. It looks so weird, it neither looks like the desolate suburban hell of north america, nor does it look like anything that could be described as a pleasant walking experience. This actually somewhat reminds me of some european cities that couldn't demolish historic buildings but had to make room for cars that were being dumped on the streets by new paramiter highways.
Yeah, it's exactly this. I personally don't find this so weird because it's common here in Brazil/South America too, but it's exactly this. And the worst part is like he says on 6:31, when city managers say they can't expand sidewalks or make bike infrastructure because the buildings are too close to the carriageway, pretending they can't remove space from cars.
Singapore can be quite selective in conserving buildings; on the other hand there used to be a line of shophouses along the stretch of Orchard Rd around Dhoby Ghaut train station that were home to various car showrooms, as well as around the junction of N Bridge & _Bras Basah_ Rds
Pavements along these 'stroads' also tend to be narrower as pedestrians can also walk along the street-level sheltered corridors of the shophouses along these 'stroads' (called "5' ways") that run parallel to the pavements. Bus stops along these stroads typically make use of the space of both the pavement & the corridors, but as the 2 are usually not level with each other, these bus stops also form many of those that're not certified as wheelchair-accessible in this country
Outstanding video! I'm from Manila which is one of the WORST offenders when it comes to transport infrastructure. We have stroads everywhere but with less the land area of the US/Canada cities that one can normally find them in. The result is one of the least walkable and most traffic-laden cities in the world.
Manila doesnt have good public transit like LA. But it doesnt have good expressways either. Its neither good to commute nor drive. Its hell either way.
@@mountainous_port worse, up to three million people commute to and from Metro Manila on weekdays, mostly by car or bus. They all worsen the congestion even further. And now congestion is getting worse in the provinces as well, especially in Cebu and Davao, but they still do not have any plans to build urban rail systems of their own.
@@ianhomerpura8937 Yeah, Cebu City has many four-lane stroads that lack speed limit signage. Exceptions are Maxilom and Serging Osmeña Boulevard (not the walkable Sergio one running from the provincial capitol to Colon with the Fuente roundabout in the middle).
This makes a lot of sense to a great degree. I once stuck in bus before the Bugis Village bus stop for 30 mins due to unregulated exit flow from Cheng Yan Street. But TBH, I can't see any ideal solution for one way stroad combo like Geylang/Sims, Eu Tong Sen/New Bridge and Serangoon Rd/Bendemeer-jln Besar. They were designed as a main road.
Yeah _Jln Besar_ literally means "main road" in Malay; but a possible solution is promoting more public transport, so there're less cars and the road can be narrowed so that the pavements can be widened, plus also allow for some space for unloading of cargo vehicles for the shops alongside the road. Turning these roads from 1 to 2-way also allows you to have reversible lanes, allocating more lanes for downtown-bound traffic in the morning & vice-versa in the evening, allow for more efficient use of road space
Yea I live at little india mrt area for my whole life now The roads here are just so bad for perdestions or cyclists as they are not designed gor them and these stroads are not good Makes cycling or ealking even more dangerous than i expected
Omg. Yes. I’ve always thought about this idea especially for protected areas like shophouses in Bugis and ones mostly said above. Just imagine, streets with no traffic light. And only essential vehicles can pass true. And underground parking on the outskirts of these areas. And you get around the area by those “rental bikes” we use often so we don’t really have to bring our own bikes everywhere we go
Very good you bring this up! It's important for Singapore to maintain the iconic shop house streets and keep them accessible. In my mind, lowering the maximum speed is going to be the first action that needs to be taken, it's easy to implement as no new infrastructure is needed and it will immediately improve quality of life along these stroads. Secondly, it will incentivise people to take roads to their destination and avoid stroads. With lower traffic and at lower speeds these heritage neighbourhoods will be easier to maintain.
I really like this video because I get to see what Singapore really looks like. When I search for stuff about Singapore, all I find is the same footage over and over, and mostly talking about the same things.
Great video and I love the visuals with the graphics showing how the road space could change! I hope it feels cool that your video is already being seen around the world 😃 I am in Utah watching!
9:05 Isn't that's what LTA did with Bencoolen Street? But it's still disastrous during peak hours because of how the road before the One-car lane sector is actually the busiest stroad of whole SG and doesn't help that the road before the one-car lane sector is 5 lanes road and the one-car lane measure is just gonna divert the heavy traffic to other roads nearby.
Exactly, I cycle through that stretch weekly on my ride to east coast park for exercise. The irony is that they add a 50m bike lane parallel to the road that does not connect anywhere and is horribly designed (ridiculous narrow right angle sharp turn at end point). As a result, I never bother with the bike lane and stick to the main road instead.
imagine the students in NAFA and workers in the neighbouring building... the honks are annoying. (also dangerous... drivers are just way too kaisu and try to thread the needle when that "DTL" section is basically "full house" that basically make some car drivers to cut into the bus lane to "escape" the incoming traffic from the perpendicular road, middle road, which makes it worse for the bus drivers...)
Think LTA was forced to narrow that stretch of Bencoolen St from 5 to 2 lanes so they could widen the pavement (it's a 0 sum game as there isn't much empty land there) to be able to fit the exits of Bencoolen underground train station
@@lzh4950 IMO LTA could have asked NAFA to "borrow" a space for the emergency escape route which would have allowed more space for one more lane even if it's smaller and still provide the cycling path to be allocated. At least there's one more non-bus lane for the cars and less likely to create the annoyance and danger. Also they could have add that one more lane until the turn into the road to election department. At least it might have allowed the cars to turn into a buffer area in case the light turns red while at yellow box...
Hello, I am a motorbike rider in Singapore. This video helped me to understand why I hate driving down Geylang and Jalan Besar although there are tons to do there.
I visited Singapore recently, I have spent a fair bit of time there over my life but this is the first time I was training for a half marathon at the same time so I went out in the early morning to run and realised just how hostile to pedestrians some parts of the city are (in this case the downtown core). Running from Marina Bay and then up the Singapore River/canal (though there was some crossings along the canal that should be ped priority but you had to wait for slow lights to change) was great and very easy but deviate from that and its impossible to cross the stroads without huge wait times and in some places inadequate or closed off overpasses. Also happened to be the first time I visited since starting postgrad urban planning studies which has changed my perceptions on the way things work.
Big roads with fences in the center to prevent people from crossing, but at the same time also cut through and divide living areas. Separators and one way design with no possibility to turn or even U-turn unless explicitly allowed. Every 200 m traffic lights that are designed to slow down the traffic, not help better traffic flow ... I could go on and on and on. You got used to it. Sure. But normal that is not.
Goodness, I hope the city planners watch your excellent video. I dare say I've learned a thing or 2 from your very clear presentation. Pity that the bureaucrats where I live will never see the logic you've shared. Can't cross an empty street confidently for fear of a screaming boy racer flying like a stabbed rat. Cheers Subscribed.
Just found this video today and I think this was a great analysis! I've always been interested in urban planning and oftentimes study the walkability in Singapore.
Great video! The narrow and obstacle-laden "pathways" along Serangoon Stroad have always baffled me because of how terrible they are. Imo it would be good if you could add some soft music throughout the video too! What software did you use to make this video?
@@tehsiewdai No, please don't add music. I have a mild hearing impairment, and music just makes it harder to hear what you're saying. Excellent video, BTW. It's kind of sad that bad infrastructure can be found all over the world.
Singapore has the perfect conditions to become a cycling country like The Netherlands. The process of new learning behavior to use bikes over cars and build extended cycling-walking public transport infrastructure is a huge task. But a task that is worth long term to thrive in greener and more sustainable living, Singapore is a beautiful country indeed, but it can indeed improve on the infrastructure part.
Hi, im a Malaysian who have been spending a lot of time during the pandemic contemplating on the problematic city designs we have in Malaysia. Glad to see someone from a similar climate doing the same XD. A lot of Malaysians are complaining that walkable places and biking infrastructure wont be successful due to hot weather, what do u think is the best way to mitigate this issue?
hi there! i see "heat" being used as a lazy excuse (by mostly ignorant people) from where i'm from too, lol! the weather can't be changed so the way to solve such issues is through building infrastructure, really. people will do whatever is easiest for them so if walking and cycling is made the quickest way to get around, people will use them no matter what. the reason why some people complain about heat is because of their lifestyle. like if one's only exposure to the elements is the walk from the lift lobby to the carpark, one will not be acclimated to the weather and thus have an exaggerated sense of how hot it is.
@@tehsiewdai I totally agree with you! I came to the conclusion that the exaggerated sense of heat is also caused by the amount of black asphalt we pave, and the amount of cars we have on the road that are all radiating heat to the environment during the day. Big, shady trees would definitely help in cooling it.
@@shr6482 also the irregular and nonsensical placement of shading trees, like having big shady trees on the street divider but no trees on the sidewalk.
I started watching your vids cus I was an avid cyclist turn motorist(yeah I am part of the problem) I like your solutions but gahment won't reduce 4 lanes to 2 lanes just for pedestrians, the bustling vehicles will jam so much then make them unhappy then gahment cannot earn that precious COE monies. As a rider myself i would be ok with reduction of lanes to accommodate pedestrian safety as motorcycles are small and easy to travel with. I personally think the introduction of small vehicles that can only be consist of 1 driver and 1 passenger should be done to replace big cars. They should make it that if you do not have a family you should not buy a car, buy a motorcycle, small car(like those 3 wheeler car options) should be bought if you alone want to commute with a private vehicle.
@@tehsiewdai not in the UK, and not in Al-Kadhemiya in Baghdad, but in Al-Mansur in Baghdad, the whole space between the illegally built concrete commercial blocks is for cars, without a sidewalk
As much as I think stroads are bad, I don't think the fix is so simple. Most of our stroads are legacy streets which were widened to accommodate increased traffic. They are still used as main thoroughfares to the city so just converting back to streets does not solve the problem of the high traffic volume.
There are shophouses torn down everywhere for development, so tearing down shophouses along 1 side of Serangoon Stroad may not be a bad idea. The stroad-nature of Serangoon Rd starts at Hotel Rendezvous itself and ends somewhere before Hougang Ave 2. It may be doomed to remain as a stroad, unless there is incentive for drivers to divert away from it and make use of the CTE and KPE instead. It seems here to stay as a main thoroughfare though, with a long flyover between Woodleigh and Kovan.
good suggestion - however, what is the alternative thoroughfare for cars who need to get from point to point? given that these stroads often traverse and cut through towns
@@angadsingh9314 I don't know about that. I saw many dark skinned people being carted around in the back of flat bed trucks exposed to the elements with no seats to work sites. I also saw many "maids" walking behind their employers carrying all their bags like pack mules. They are so poorly paid that any first world country would consider it a form of slavery. If that's not 3rd world, I don't know what is.
@@sarabeth8050 Wow i was just in Singapore a couple of days ago and saw nothing of the sort. In any case, anecdotal experiences do not negate the numbers which we ought to be looking at.
It's funny that you're criticising constructive criticism. Do try to be a bit more enlightened, and don't pull Singapore's standards down just because your Indonesia is currently still incapable of pulling its standards up, what with rampant, belligerent corruption everywhere from top to bottom. Good governors being voted out on the superficial basis of religion instead of technocratic competency. This video was released because Singapore can be even better, just that Singaporeans (and of course foreigners like you) don't know it yet. :)
"We have dedicated lanes on our roads only for busses as they are an efficient form of mass transportation that carry more passengers than bicycles". Let's just keep pretending cars are 100% efficient. Also have you ever seen a traffic jam on a bike lane? Neither have I.* *Hyperbole, I've seen footage of Utrecht, they do in fact have them on main roads
Love this video, we have similar problems where I live in Vienna, so I really appreciate your video, would also love a video on the metro, I have heard a lot of good things about it, and would love to learn more
Nice presentation. I've always been frustrated as a pedestrian and cyclist when in Singapore. I never understood why cross walk timing was so biased against pedestrians before.
You could do a whole video on the kaki lima. Also, the number one step taken in addressing 90% of Stroud’s is to widen the walkway and plant TREES - shade is underrated infrastructure
@@StormyMusic9 depends on how central it is. Would need thousands of daily users to justify expensive infrastructure which requires power and maintenance. Also, trees don’t just cool the city, they clean the air. It is possible to plant gardens atop covered walkways though
Your channel certainly breath a fresh air to the local TH-cam scene dominated by mindless skits and food shows. I really enjoy the content you put up. Certainly deserved more subs. Hope you get 100k milestone soon :)
I never imagined island-city Singapore would have so much public space dedicated to wide stroads. Thankfully, so much stroad space means there's room to add sidewalk space, bike lanes, and even bus-only lanes! Hopefully, Singapore makes that change in the future and soon!
NotJutsBikes sent me here. The thing that is also worth mentioning, is that the goal is to get more people using the bus, bicycle or walk, and this should reduce car traffic enough that you can manage with less lanes. In some places you might actually need a road, but my home town of Groningen has been really successful in getting them out of the historical centre.
For a nation that boast a really amazing public transport, Singapore seems to have some really Car-centric urban design. But this problem is not exclusive to Singapore and North American cities, here in Indonesia Stroads are a big problem, yet urban planners kept on building more stroads since it's usually cheaper and looks better in public (cuz wide roads=visible economic growth apparently).
@@ANTSEMUT1 also the public here in Indonesia just LOVES wide roads, because it looks like "economic development" here. despite the obvious downside it has.
Good points made with well thought out solutions! Clear explanation to support your case. Any chance you can get this in front of LTA or Transport Minister?
I grew up in Abu Dhabi and it checks all of the “good urban planning” points however, it does feel like it was ‘built’ and not organic like most Southeast Asian cities. In my opinion, it kind of makes Southeast Asian cities lively to have some patches of urban planning mistakes here and there.
Thanks TehSiewDai for making this very informative video inspired by Not Just Bikes translating into South East Asian context. I am originally from Penang and living in KL where there are many Stroads which are 'hellway' for Cyclists #cycleForLife. Car Centric and obsessed planners in Malaysia have no consideration for cyclists and pedestrians. Many including herd mentality politicians have forgotten that cyclists are commuters, not for recreational only. Keep up good work, look forward to more videos from you. i have liked and subscribed. Regards from Simon 360 founder , #cycleForLife Face book group
It's nice to see a new YT channel on mobility! I'm from Rio and I saw *many* similarities between Singapore and Rio on this video. It's nice to see the differences and similarities between our cities! Many in Brazil say we can't have nice things because we're not in Europe, we're not the USA. This is a fallacy and it's things like your channel that strengthens my counter-argument. Liked and subscribed!
First video? You did a fantastic job!! It's nice to see how the infrastructure works in other countries. I love learning about Southeast Asia and it's so impressive to see how much they have improved in recent years. Singapore has developed so quickly in such a short period of time with so few resources and I would love to visit one day to experience it myself. Thanks for the nice video! ❤️❤️❤️ From USA.
Actually "few resources" is a fallacy. Singapore has abundant resources, intangible ones, of the kind that even countries with abundant natural resources can only dream of. Many African and Asian countries are replete with natural resources but these get constantly raped and robbed by colonial powers and multi-national corporations. 1) No warlike culture tainted by centuries of bloodshed and perverted cultural practices... and even if there were, these were mostly done away by the colonial British. 2) A nation of immigrants - they came to work, they have a work ethic, even their descendants are hardworking. 3) Crossroads of maritime Asia - both USA and China (also India) are contesting to exert their influence here, courting Singapore and investing through multiple means. 4) Deep-sea port along one of the world's businest shipping routes - just need to ride the wave, ensure that the port operates better than all neighbouring rivals. 5) Some lucky breaks in the form of brilliant ministers and economic advisers - Goh Keng Swee, Albert Winsemius. They set the stage, things got easier from there. 6) A capable foreign ministry with a strict policy of non-alignment... valuable neutral ground in a region where conflicting loyalties are a-plenty and can be bought cheaply.
6:31 I'll translate what they said: "we'll ignore we can take space from cars, and we'll say we can't take space from buses so we won't build good bike infrastructure". Wow, the audacity! Here in Rio is not very different. Managers and politians love to say how they value the climate, active mobility etc. but they're still very coward when it comes to make significant change.
What an amazing video! I've felt this way for a long time and I'm so glad you've summed it up so nicely in a well presented, well researched video. I'm hoping the tide will change where they realize cars need to be actively discouraged and streets can be reclaimed for pedestrians, but it may take a while. Public sentiment in favour of cars may be too strong to change in the medium term.
Omg this video is super cool thank you for making it. Yeah I didn’t really like these stroads but I didn’t realise why, but when you pointed out all its flaws it made me realise how much better things could be. Thanks for the content!! Glad to have found your channel!!
❤❤❤ this perspective! I am a low-car inhabitant of Singapore and have been getting frustrated by the anti-cycling / anti-pedestrian laws and rhetoric here. Watched this and cheered me up a great deal, thanks and keep influencing positive change a day at a time!
You’ve articulated what I’ve suspected for a while and had no name to describe it. Was issued a fine for waiting for a car to drive out of a lot along Upper Serangoon Road. For “obstruction”. I wrote in. I wondered why place parking lots there when we had to wait for cars to leave the lots and possibly obstruct traffic on a road? First-hand experience of difficulty using the Upper Serangoon Stroad. Thank you for the video.
I love that you are taking Strong Towns’ and others' urban planning ideas into the Singapore context. I have considered for doing the same for Bangkok. Keep up the good work!
@@terencew3840 they don't need to cut to 2 lanes just 3 is even enough from the current 4-5 lanes... cutting to bencoolen DTL side of the Bencoolen St is way too extreme and helps no one at all... 2 lane for city area as a road diet is way too extreme.
the only difference is that stroads in america is a new development thing, where SG is a square pug shaved to fit a round hole using existing infrastructure. if you look further out, there's essentially no stroads just standard streets and roads...
Great analysis. I also find too many streets with dead ends so even walking to another street is not possible. That makes route planning and navigation without a map problematic.
Enjoyed your content. I see a strong view of a car-centric Singapore across several of your videos. Good if you could in your next videos discuss the economic backdrop and what information was available during Singapore's early post-independence development that led to the planning assumptions giving rise to today's still car-centric city.
While Singapore does discourage private transport by taxing cars heavily I think it also wanted to be conducive to business e.g. faster deliveries by making roads wider. So we have numerous pairs of 1-way roads with more lanes in a direction, with the disadvantage being that if you're along a road but want to travel in the direction opposite to the road's traffic flow, you've to walk to the other road to get to the correct bus stop, which can sometimes be up to 500m apart e.g. S'goon Rd & _Jln Besar_
Their Main fault is to also expand and develop empty lands into Neighbourhoods far from workplaces. Not exactly empty lands but like villages were demolished to put everyone into High Density Housing and spread out far and wide. Plus you think the ministers want to cycle or walk around if they do their walkabouts? Thats why our public transport still rely on bus and trains so their entourage can still use the cars. If we can make into Bike and Tram only lanes, I would love to have a town centre that is more walkable. Like how they changed Melbourne's CBD from car centric to Walkability CBD zone with free trams. But nope they need the money still. HAHAHAHA!! End of the day, dollar talks.
while you score as a great urban planner, whose main consideration is for pedestrians, public transport users and cyclists....drivers do hate this idea. what you are suggesting is to remove car lanes to make roads narrower..however, have you thought how annoying this could be for drivers as it only creates more congestion. and also private hires... like how many hate bencoolen street for how it shrinks from a 5 lane to a 1!
@@tehsiewdai They are, I still remember having to drive across a 4 lane stroad to get to the other side and the scariest thing of all is that those cars we're going at 60-80km/h
@@tehsiewdai i'd say it's basically a main point of most places and towns, especially on the historical Malaysia route 1 where many of the old British towns are located. Personally i have a relative connection up north of malaysia in a town called Sungai Petani which is the 2nd largest town in Kedah (IIRC), where the Route 1 is basically the main road for the town, which has 2 lanes on each direction for the most parts. the town centre is a mess of lanes width and directions but they are wide (almost the width of the stroads you shown, plus 45"d parking for the most parts (as is standard in most parts in malaysia).)
How about taking a stroll along pedestrian path, under HDB blocks or within a town centre doing errands having to look left n right, front n back with bicycle, pmds honing all the time n passing by out of the sudden…
The information of ' one car park lot can park twelve bicycles ' is doubtful. Did you check and confirm as responsibility lies on you for what you post. First time, good work. 👍👍👍
Love the strong towns concept. Agree that streets and roads have to be kept apart and that stroads are horrible. Just as food for thought most of the stroads identified in the video are actually the major thoroughfares for the areas they serve (eg cbd or the east side Geylang/paya Lebar). Converting them into streets will reduce the traffic. Would a better solution be to convert them into roads so expectations are clear? Of course there will be negative impact on the businesses along the road.
![Stroads are Ugly, Expensive, and Dangerous (and they're everywhere) [ST05]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ORzNZUeUHAM/mqdefault.jpg)
This was a great video and I loved seeing Singapore again! I've been there many times, and my brother-in-law used to live there.
Singapore has so many great walkable places, but it also has some very uninviting car-centric places as well. Singapore has the potential to be so much better, but videos like this one are necessary to show people what needs to be done.
This video was recommended to me because I love yours too haha
Wow its the inspiration source himself! Love your videos, NJB!
pavement castrates. bums DON'T run. the whole failed civilization is about preventing hoards of marauding, bums running around everywhere. but if bums CAN'T run - life sucks ... drug addicts everywhere .... NO ONE exercises (except indoors)
Great fan of your work my man !
@@ch98hb OMG SAME 😃, Not Just Bikes I'M ADDICTED TO YOUR VIDEOS!
If this is your first video, I hope you keep going. This was a great analysis -- we loved seeing the ideas applied to Singapore and learning about it through your eyes.
thank you too, for introducing the concept of Stroads to me!
your site is truly an eye opener and it's always interesting to read up about how things are like in North America (:
A republican is supposed to hate brown people, you went to the wrong neighborhood lol. I agree with your assessment of the problem but dear God stop being republican
Tehsiewdai should be Singapore's next Transportation Minister
I think it's very interesting that Singapore made the same changes to the streets to make them more car friendly, thus creating stroads, but they didn't bulldoze the buildings alongside them like the US did. It looks so weird, it neither looks like the desolate suburban hell of north america, nor does it look like anything that could be described as a pleasant walking experience. This actually somewhat reminds me of some european cities that couldn't demolish historic buildings but had to make room for cars that were being dumped on the streets by new paramiter highways.
It is exactly this. These stroads are the only thoroughfare to the modern city, yet they are flanked by historic buildings that cannot be demolished.
@@welcomb Its also really a good tool of orientating yourself to a location, since such a road would pass by all the major landmarks
Yeah, it's exactly this. I personally don't find this so weird because it's common here in Brazil/South America too, but it's exactly this.
And the worst part is like he says on 6:31, when city managers say they can't expand sidewalks or make bike infrastructure because the buildings are too close to the carriageway, pretending they can't remove space from cars.
Singapore can be quite selective in conserving buildings; on the other hand there used to be a line of shophouses along the stretch of Orchard Rd around Dhoby Ghaut train station that were home to various car showrooms, as well as around the junction of N Bridge & _Bras Basah_ Rds
Pavements along these 'stroads' also tend to be narrower as pedestrians can also walk along the street-level sheltered corridors of the shophouses along these 'stroads' (called "5' ways") that run parallel to the pavements. Bus stops along these stroads typically make use of the space of both the pavement & the corridors, but as the 2 are usually not level with each other, these bus stops also form many of those that're not certified as wheelchair-accessible in this country
Outstanding video! I'm from Manila which is one of the WORST offenders when it comes to transport infrastructure. We have stroads everywhere but with less the land area of the US/Canada cities that one can normally find them in. The result is one of the least walkable and most traffic-laden cities in the world.
Manila doesnt have good public transit like LA. But it doesnt have good expressways either. Its neither good to commute nor drive. Its hell either way.
@@mountainous_port worse, up to three million people commute to and from Metro Manila on weekdays, mostly by car or bus. They all worsen the congestion even further.
And now congestion is getting worse in the provinces as well, especially in Cebu and Davao, but they still do not have any plans to build urban rail systems of their own.
@@mountainous_port At least (although oftentimes unreliable) you can still go around Manila without a car.
@@DK-tv6rk Yes. The dreadful word there is "atleast". Cant imagine how the majority Manilenos have to endure the "least" option for decades.
@@ianhomerpura8937 Yeah, Cebu City has many four-lane stroads that lack speed limit signage. Exceptions are Maxilom and Serging Osmeña Boulevard (not the walkable Sergio one running from the provincial capitol to Colon with the Fuente roundabout in the middle).
This makes a lot of sense to a great degree. I once stuck in bus before the Bugis Village bus stop for 30 mins due to unregulated exit flow from Cheng Yan Street. But TBH, I can't see any ideal solution for one way stroad combo like Geylang/Sims, Eu Tong Sen/New Bridge and Serangoon Rd/Bendemeer-jln Besar. They were designed as a main road.
Yeah _Jln Besar_ literally means "main road" in Malay; but a possible solution is promoting more public transport, so there're less cars and the road can be narrowed so that the pavements can be widened, plus also allow for some space for unloading of cargo vehicles for the shops alongside the road. Turning these roads from 1 to 2-way also allows you to have reversible lanes, allocating more lanes for downtown-bound traffic in the morning & vice-versa in the evening, allow for more efficient use of road space
Yea
I live at little india mrt area for my whole life now
The roads here are just so bad for perdestions or cyclists as they are not designed gor them and these stroads are not good
Makes cycling or ealking even more dangerous than i expected
Omg. Yes. I’ve always thought about this idea especially for protected areas like shophouses in Bugis and ones mostly said above.
Just imagine, streets with no traffic light. And only essential vehicles can pass true. And underground parking on the outskirts of these areas. And you get around the area by those “rental bikes” we use often so we don’t really have to bring our own bikes everywhere we go
Very good you bring this up! It's important for Singapore to maintain the iconic shop house streets and keep them accessible.
In my mind, lowering the maximum speed is going to be the first action that needs to be taken, it's easy to implement as no new infrastructure is needed and it will immediately improve quality of life along these stroads. Secondly, it will incentivise people to take roads to their destination and avoid stroads. With lower traffic and at lower speeds these heritage neighbourhoods will be easier to maintain.
Moving from India, I found no flaws in SG roads or public transport. Now I see how it can be improved.
I really like this video because I get to see what Singapore really looks like. When I search for stuff about Singapore, all I find is the same footage over and over, and mostly talking about the same things.
Great video and I love the visuals with the graphics showing how the road space could change! I hope it feels cool that your video is already being seen around the world 😃 I am in Utah watching!
thanks!
yep, it feels cool to have so many people from different parts of the world watching my channel (:
9:05
Isn't that's what LTA did with Bencoolen Street? But it's still disastrous during peak hours because of how the road before the One-car lane sector is actually the busiest stroad of whole SG and doesn't help that the road before the one-car lane sector is 5 lanes road and the one-car lane measure is just gonna divert the heavy traffic to other roads nearby.
Exactly, I cycle through that stretch weekly on my ride to east coast park for exercise. The irony is that they add a 50m bike lane parallel to the road that does not connect anywhere and is horribly designed (ridiculous narrow right angle sharp turn at end point). As a result, I never bother with the bike lane and stick to the main road instead.
imagine the students in NAFA and workers in the neighbouring building... the honks are annoying. (also dangerous... drivers are just way too kaisu and try to thread the needle when that "DTL" section is basically "full house" that basically make some car drivers to cut into the bus lane to "escape" the incoming traffic from the perpendicular road, middle road, which makes it worse for the bus drivers...)
Think LTA was forced to narrow that stretch of Bencoolen St from 5 to 2 lanes so they could widen the pavement (it's a 0 sum game as there isn't much empty land there) to be able to fit the exits of Bencoolen underground train station
@@lzh4950 IMO LTA could have asked NAFA to "borrow" a space for the emergency escape route which would have allowed more space for one more lane even if it's smaller and still provide the cycling path to be allocated. At least there's one more non-bus lane for the cars and less likely to create the annoyance and danger.
Also they could have add that one more lane until the turn into the road to election department. At least it might have allowed the cars to turn into a buffer area in case the light turns red while at yellow box...
Hello, I am a motorbike rider in Singapore. This video helped me to understand why I hate driving down Geylang and Jalan Besar although there are tons to do there.
I didn’t know I needed this video and what’s with the amazing wholesome vibe
I visited Singapore recently, I have spent a fair bit of time there over my life but this is the first time I was training for a half marathon at the same time so I went out in the early morning to run and realised just how hostile to pedestrians some parts of the city are (in this case the downtown core). Running from Marina Bay and then up the Singapore River/canal (though there was some crossings along the canal that should be ped priority but you had to wait for slow lights to change) was great and very easy but deviate from that and its impossible to cross the stroads without huge wait times and in some places inadequate or closed off overpasses.
Also happened to be the first time I visited since starting postgrad urban planning studies which has changed my perceptions on the way things work.
Big roads with fences in the center to prevent people from crossing, but at the same time also cut through and divide living areas. Separators and one way design with no possibility to turn or even U-turn unless explicitly allowed. Every 200 m traffic lights that are designed to slow down the traffic, not help better traffic flow ... I could go on and on and on.
You got used to it. Sure. But normal that is not.
Goodness, I hope the city planners watch your excellent video. I dare say I've learned a thing or 2 from your very clear presentation. Pity that the bureaucrats where I live will never see the logic you've shared. Can't cross an empty street confidently for fear of a screaming boy racer flying like a stabbed rat. Cheers Subscribed.
thank you!
Just found this video today and I think this was a great analysis! I've always been interested in urban planning and oftentimes study the walkability in Singapore.
Great video and explanation, thanks
thanks!
It is great to see this spread and more and more people become aware of it!
Very interesting! Good research done. Enjoyed watching this!
Great content, earned a subscriber!
Great video! The narrow and obstacle-laden "pathways" along Serangoon Stroad have always baffled me because of how terrible they are. Imo it would be good if you could add some soft music throughout the video too! What software did you use to make this video?
thank you for your feedback! i'll consider adding some bgm or sound effects in future videos
@@tehsiewdai No, please don't add music. I have a mild hearing impairment, and music just makes it harder to hear what you're saying.
Excellent video, BTW. It's kind of sad that bad infrastructure can be found all over the world.
very insightful and informative.
Great content! Thank you!
Singapore has the perfect conditions to become a cycling country like The Netherlands.
The process of new learning behavior to use bikes over cars and build extended cycling-walking public transport infrastructure is a huge task.
But a task that is worth long term to thrive in greener and more sustainable living, Singapore is a beautiful country indeed, but it can indeed improve on the infrastructure part.
i cycled at geylang road and it's the scariest experience ever
Hi, im a Malaysian who have been spending a lot of time during the pandemic contemplating on the problematic city designs we have in Malaysia. Glad to see someone from a similar climate doing the same XD. A lot of Malaysians are complaining that walkable places and biking infrastructure wont be successful due to hot weather, what do u think is the best way to mitigate this issue?
hi there!
i see "heat" being used as a lazy excuse (by mostly ignorant people) from where i'm from too, lol!
the weather can't be changed so the way to solve such issues is through building infrastructure, really. people will do whatever is easiest for them so if walking and cycling is made the quickest way to get around, people will use them no matter what.
the reason why some people complain about heat is because of their lifestyle. like if one's only exposure to the elements is the walk from the lift lobby to the carpark, one will not be acclimated to the weather and thus have an exaggerated sense of how hot it is.
@@tehsiewdai I totally agree with you! I came to the conclusion that the exaggerated sense of heat is also caused by the amount of black asphalt we pave, and the amount of cars we have on the road that are all radiating heat to the environment during the day. Big, shady trees would definitely help in cooling it.
@@shr6482 also the irregular and nonsensical placement of shading trees, like having big shady trees on the street divider but no trees on the sidewalk.
I started watching your vids cus I was an avid cyclist turn motorist(yeah I am part of the problem)
I like your solutions but gahment won't reduce 4 lanes to 2 lanes just for pedestrians, the bustling vehicles will jam so much then make them unhappy then gahment cannot earn that precious COE monies.
As a rider myself i would be ok with reduction of lanes to accommodate pedestrian safety as motorcycles are small and easy to travel with. I personally think the introduction of small vehicles that can only be consist of 1 driver and 1 passenger should be done to replace big cars. They should make it that if you do not have a family you should not buy a car, buy a motorcycle, small car(like those 3 wheeler car options) should be bought if you alone want to commute with a private vehicle.
Way to go. Great contents!
Ugh, it's even worse in Taiwan! Literal hell for walkers.
wonderful video!
thanks!
I miss singapore i loved it there
A sure thing as well, Frederic!
Very nice presentation! Thank you.
you're welcome!
thanks for you kind words too!
jakartans watching this: "dude! we got these too, except it's probably closer to 80% of the whole region instead of singapore's 20%"
All love from neighbors Malaysia
Pretty good for a first video. Thanks for the link @notjustbikes
thank you!
i'm really thankful for not just bikes sharing my video too
In Iraq, they call streets running parallel to roads "service roads".
they call it that here in the US as well in some parts but we have so many names for it used in different parts
that's interesting!
i'm curious - are there many stroads built in your area?
@@tehsiewdai not in the UK, and not in Al-Kadhemiya in Baghdad, but in Al-Mansur in Baghdad, the whole space between the illegally built concrete commercial blocks is for cars, without a sidewalk
very well-explained! maybe we should do a collab someday 😆😄 I have some ideas about cycling as well (I’m on IG @cyclingmana)
thanks!
Have one for the algorithm!
As much as I think stroads are bad, I don't think the fix is so simple. Most of our stroads are legacy streets which were widened to accommodate increased traffic. They are still used as main thoroughfares to the city so just converting back to streets does not solve the problem of the high traffic volume.
Which doesn't even make sense since induced demand is a thing, you will only get temporary relief from congestion and will be back to square one.
@@ANTSEMUT1 Ah but the solution to induced demand is dynamic tolls based on traffic. It's already partially implemented here.
There are shophouses torn down everywhere for development, so tearing down shophouses along 1 side of Serangoon Stroad may not be a bad idea.
The stroad-nature of Serangoon Rd starts at Hotel Rendezvous itself and ends somewhere before Hougang Ave 2. It may be doomed to remain as a stroad, unless there is incentive for drivers to divert away from it and make use of the CTE and KPE instead. It seems here to stay as a main thoroughfare though, with a long flyover between Woodleigh and Kovan.
good suggestion - however, what is the alternative thoroughfare for cars who need to get from point to point? given that these stroads often traverse and cut through towns
I was laughing at strodes in US... Why we also have....
I've been to Singapore many times and have driven on the roads throughout the island. For a 3rd world country, the roads are not bad.
Singapore is not third world by ANY metric
@@angadsingh9314 I don't know about that. I saw many dark skinned people being carted around in the back of flat bed trucks exposed to the elements with no seats to work sites. I also saw many "maids" walking behind their employers carrying all their bags like pack mules. They are so poorly paid that any first world country would consider it a form of slavery. If that's not 3rd world, I don't know what is.
@@sarabeth8050 Wow i was just in Singapore a couple of days ago and saw nothing of the sort. In any case, anecdotal experiences do not negate the numbers which we ought to be looking at.
Hope the whole of the URA watches this
In Indonesia almost everything are stroads 😂
It's funny to see singaporean criticize their own country that to my eye is already perfect. I mean look at my country indonesia 😂
It's funny that you're criticising constructive criticism. Do try to be a bit more enlightened, and don't pull Singapore's standards down just because your Indonesia is currently still incapable of pulling its standards up, what with rampant, belligerent corruption everywhere from top to bottom. Good governors being voted out on the superficial basis of religion instead of technocratic competency.
This video was released because Singapore can be even better, just that Singaporeans (and of course foreigners like you) don't know it yet. :)
"We have dedicated lanes on our roads only for busses as they are an efficient form of mass transportation that carry more passengers than bicycles". Let's just keep pretending cars are 100% efficient. Also have you ever seen a traffic jam on a bike lane? Neither have I.*
*Hyperbole, I've seen footage of Utrecht, they do in fact have them on main roads
Better yet dedicated tram lines along with said bus lanes.
Love this video, we have similar problems where I live in Vienna, so I really appreciate your video, would also love a video on the metro, I have heard a lot of good things about it, and would love to learn more
thank you!
yes, the metro or mrt as it's called here is fantastic, and i'll cover that in a future video (:
Nice presentation. I've always been frustrated as a pedestrian and cyclist when in Singapore. I never understood why cross walk timing was so biased against pedestrians before.
thanks! i can relate to your experiences with traffic lights here, might do a video about that in the future!
@@tehsiewdai hey man at Fort Road junction due to MRT construction you have to wait 1.5- 2 minutes or so for a green light
You could do a whole video on the kaki lima. Also, the number one step taken in addressing 90% of Stroud’s is to widen the walkway and plant TREES - shade is underrated infrastructure
oh yes, the five foot ways! having trees would be great too
@@StormyMusic9 depends on how central it is. Would need thousands of daily users to justify expensive infrastructure which requires power and maintenance. Also, trees don’t just cool the city, they clean the air. It is possible to plant gardens atop covered walkways though
Your channel certainly breath a fresh air to the local TH-cam scene dominated by mindless skits and food shows. I really enjoy the content you put up. Certainly deserved more subs. Hope you get 100k milestone soon :)
I never imagined island-city Singapore would have so much public space dedicated to wide stroads.
Thankfully, so much stroad space means there's room to add sidewalk space, bike lanes, and even bus-only lanes!
Hopefully, Singapore makes that change in the future and soon!
NotJutsBikes sent me here.
The thing that is also worth mentioning, is that the goal is to get more people using the bus, bicycle or walk, and this should reduce car traffic enough that you can manage with less lanes.
In some places you might actually need a road, but my home town of Groningen has been really successful in getting them out of the historical centre.
Great video! We definitely have a whole lot of Stroads up here in Malaysia too, converted from older streets.
thanks!
especially penang, all the same problems but less developed than singapore
For a nation that boast a really amazing public transport, Singapore seems to have some really Car-centric urban design. But this problem is not exclusive to Singapore and North American cities, here in Indonesia Stroads are a big problem, yet urban planners kept on building more stroads since it's usually cheaper and looks better in public (cuz wide roads=visible economic growth apparently).
It's cheaper to build but more expensive to maintain, something these planners never think about.
@@ANTSEMUT1 also the public here in Indonesia just LOVES wide roads, because it looks like "economic development" here. despite the obvious downside it has.
hell we even call both road and street as jalan 🤣
Good points made with well thought out solutions! Clear explanation to support your case. Any chance you can get this in front of LTA or Transport Minister?
thank you!
hmm i've started sharing smaller concepts, the stroad is a relatively big one, we'll eventually get there!
Finally somebody is talking about walkability in tropical cities!
I grew up in Abu Dhabi and it checks all of the “good urban planning” points however, it does feel like it was ‘built’ and not organic like most Southeast Asian cities. In my opinion, it kind of makes Southeast Asian cities lively to have some patches of urban planning mistakes here and there.
Thanks TehSiewDai for making this very informative video inspired by Not Just Bikes translating into South East Asian context. I am originally from Penang and living in KL where there are many Stroads which are 'hellway' for Cyclists #cycleForLife.
Car Centric and obsessed planners in Malaysia have no consideration for cyclists and pedestrians. Many including herd mentality politicians have forgotten that cyclists are commuters, not for recreational only.
Keep up good work, look forward to more videos from you. i have liked and subscribed.
Regards from Simon 360 founder , #cycleForLife Face book group
Inspired by?
It's nice to see a new YT channel on mobility! I'm from Rio and I saw *many* similarities between Singapore and Rio on this video. It's nice to see the differences and similarities between our cities!
Many in Brazil say we can't have nice things because we're not in Europe, we're not the USA. This is a fallacy and it's things like your channel that strengthens my counter-argument. Liked and subscribed!
First video? You did a fantastic job!!
It's nice to see how the infrastructure works in other countries. I love learning about Southeast Asia and it's so impressive to see how much they have improved in recent years. Singapore has developed so quickly in such a short period of time with so few resources and I would love to visit one day to experience it myself.
Thanks for the nice video!
❤️❤️❤️ From USA.
Actually "few resources" is a fallacy.
Singapore has abundant resources, intangible ones, of the kind that even countries with abundant natural resources can only dream of. Many African and Asian countries are replete with natural resources but these get constantly raped and robbed by colonial powers and multi-national corporations.
1) No warlike culture tainted by centuries of bloodshed and perverted cultural practices... and even if there were, these were mostly done away by the colonial British.
2) A nation of immigrants - they came to work, they have a work ethic, even their descendants are hardworking.
3) Crossroads of maritime Asia - both USA and China (also India) are contesting to exert their influence here, courting Singapore and investing through multiple means.
4) Deep-sea port along one of the world's businest shipping routes - just need to ride the wave, ensure that the port operates better than all neighbouring rivals.
5) Some lucky breaks in the form of brilliant ministers and economic advisers - Goh Keng Swee, Albert Winsemius. They set the stage, things got easier from there.
6) A capable foreign ministry with a strict policy of non-alignment... valuable neutral ground in a region where conflicting loyalties are a-plenty and can be bought cheaply.
6:31 I'll translate what they said: "we'll ignore we can take space from cars, and we'll say we can't take space from buses so we won't build good bike infrastructure".
Wow, the audacity! Here in Rio is not very different. Managers and politians love to say how they value the climate, active mobility etc. but they're still very coward when it comes to make significant change.
Because these managers and politicians love their luxury cars and have a vested interest in a car-first city.
What an amazing video! I've felt this way for a long time and I'm so glad you've summed it up so nicely in a well presented, well researched video. I'm hoping the tide will change where they realize cars need to be actively discouraged and streets can be reclaimed for pedestrians, but it may take a while. Public sentiment in favour of cars may be too strong to change in the medium term.
Omg this video is super cool thank you for making it. Yeah I didn’t really like these stroads but I didn’t realise why, but when you pointed out all its flaws it made me realise how much better things could be. Thanks for the content!! Glad to have found your channel!!
8:30 damn those graphics are satisfying!
thanks!
We have a ridiculous amount of stroads here in Malaysia. I hate it! Bad city planning
❤❤❤ this perspective! I am a low-car inhabitant of Singapore and have been getting frustrated by the anti-cycling / anti-pedestrian laws and rhetoric here. Watched this and cheered me up a great deal, thanks and keep influencing positive change a day at a time!
I love your videos! Keep up the good work! You just earned yourself a loyal subscriber!
thank you!
Our Singaporean Not Just Bikes! About time!
maybe he can do ASEAN NJB, im sure there's not gonna be much topics if he focus only on SG
@tehsiewdai -.
This happens when you copy from car crazy USA , Singapore better should copy from Japan & Netherlands.
well I blame the car lobbies of the 60s and 70s, heck we almost went pure bus only then when we are gonna build the first mass transit system.
tbh, singapore is far more ok, you don't want even to just think what we have in indonesia. love your video from indonesia
I'm glad someone local finally picked up on the stroad concept
You’ve articulated what I’ve suspected for a while and had no name to describe it. Was issued a fine for waiting for a car to drive out of a lot along Upper Serangoon Road. For “obstruction”. I wrote in. I wondered why place parking lots there when we had to wait for cars to leave the lots and possibly obstruct traffic on a road? First-hand experience of difficulty using the Upper Serangoon Stroad. Thank you for the video.
Stroads are everywhere in Vietnam. Walkable sidewalks are nowhere to be found except for those in central districts.
Hope LTA converts one full lane in the city centre to a pedestrian walkway in the future 😁 nice work on the video. Learnt sth new
I love that you are taking Strong Towns’ and others' urban planning ideas into the Singapore context. I have considered for doing the same for Bangkok. Keep up the good work!
can't wait to see your views about Bangkok, it's a great city!
A lot of roads in Taiwan is also built as a "stroads", and is really unpleasant to drivers and pedestrians alike.
Many of these roads are arterial. Reducing speed limits and lanes are going to result in massive jams
IMO it might, but it'd be a lot usable and safer... plus not like it's any different right now with the obstacles
@@PrograError tell that to emergency services
@@terencew3840 they have their own protocols anyway. not for us, plus they got the siren...
@@PrograError you cant get to places when 2 lanes are jammed up
@@terencew3840 they don't need to cut to 2 lanes just 3 is even enough from the current 4-5 lanes... cutting to bencoolen DTL side of the Bencoolen St is way too extreme and helps no one at all...
2 lane for city area as a road diet is way too extreme.
Gosh I hate balestier road for this reason, left and right people stopping / turning
Very informative video! Always hated the stroad in geylang.. both as a pedestrian and a driver
As a Malaysian, I now realise our country has the same problem with stroads in most city centres.
Great video, another ally in the world cycling revolution i see
Education is the most valuable thing in this movement
thanks!
Singapore proves that stroads are dangerous inefficient and shouldn't exist, but that they don't have to be quite as bad as they are in North America.
the only difference is that stroads in america is a new development thing, where SG is a square pug shaved to fit a round hole using existing infrastructure. if you look further out, there's essentially no stroads just standard streets and roads...
Great video, I’m so happy I found this channel early
thank you!
In Bangladesh there's no such thing!
Singapore has a huge potential but something really has to be done about those stroads, esp Geylang Rd. Well done, fella, for bringing up this topic.
we have the same problem in China too
Excellent video as usual. Every URA and LTA officer should watch these.
Great analysis. I also find too many streets with dead ends so even walking to another street is not possible. That makes route planning and navigation without a map problematic.
Enjoyed your content. I see a strong view of a car-centric Singapore across several of your videos. Good if you could in your next videos discuss the economic backdrop and what information was available during Singapore's early post-independence development that led to the planning assumptions giving rise to today's still car-centric city.
While Singapore does discourage private transport by taxing cars heavily I think it also wanted to be conducive to business e.g. faster deliveries by making roads wider. So we have numerous pairs of 1-way roads with more lanes in a direction, with the disadvantage being that if you're along a road but want to travel in the direction opposite to the road's traffic flow, you've to walk to the other road to get to the correct bus stop, which can sometimes be up to 500m apart e.g. S'goon Rd & _Jln Besar_
Their Main fault is to also expand and develop empty lands into Neighbourhoods far from workplaces. Not exactly empty lands but like villages were demolished to put everyone into High Density Housing and spread out far and wide.
Plus you think the ministers want to cycle or walk around if they do their walkabouts? Thats why our public transport still rely on bus and trains so their entourage can still use the cars. If we can make into Bike and Tram only lanes, I would love to have a town centre that is more walkable. Like how they changed Melbourne's CBD from car centric to Walkability CBD zone with free trams. But nope they need the money still. HAHAHAHA!! End of the day, dollar talks.
The dislikes came from LTA
while you score as a great urban planner, whose main consideration is for pedestrians, public transport users and cyclists....drivers do hate this idea. what you are suggesting is to remove car lanes to make roads narrower..however, have you thought how annoying this could be for drivers as it only creates more congestion. and also private hires... like how many hate bencoolen street for how it shrinks from a 5 lane to a 1!
As a urban planning student in Singapore, I wish I found out about your channel earlier! Very informative and keep it up
Over here in Malaysia, also got stroads 😢
yeah, i've seen quite a number of them before
are they very common?
@@tehsiewdai They are, I still remember having to drive across a 4 lane stroad to get to the other side and the scariest thing of all is that those cars we're going at 60-80km/h
@@tehsiewdai i'd say it's basically a main point of most places and towns, especially on the historical Malaysia route 1 where many of the old British towns are located.
Personally i have a relative connection up north of malaysia in a town called Sungai Petani which is the 2nd largest town in Kedah (IIRC), where the Route 1 is basically the main road for the town, which has 2 lanes on each direction for the most parts. the town centre is a mess of lanes width and directions but they are wide (almost the width of the stroads you shown, plus 45"d parking for the most parts (as is standard in most parts in malaysia).)
How about taking a stroll along pedestrian path, under HDB blocks or within a town centre doing errands having to look left n right, front n back with bicycle, pmds honing all the time n passing by out of the sudden…
The information of ' one car park lot can park twelve bicycles ' is doubtful. Did you check and confirm as responsibility lies on you for what you post. First time, good work. 👍👍👍
Love the strong towns concept. Agree that streets and roads have to be kept apart and that stroads are horrible. Just as food for thought most of the stroads identified in the video are actually the major thoroughfares for the areas they serve (eg cbd or the east side Geylang/paya Lebar). Converting them into streets will reduce the traffic. Would a better solution be to convert them into roads so expectations are clear? Of course there will be negative impact on the businesses along the road.