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Opening Address by SMRT President & Group CEO Mr Desmond Kuek at Media Briefing on mobilityX

21 March 2018
 

A very good morning and thank you for coming to our briefing on mobilityX. I would like to share a few words on the future of urban mobility.

URBAN MOBILITY LANDSCAPE IN SINGAPORE AND GLOBALLY

Globally, the transport sector is changing rapidly. The proliferation of smart phones, cloud computing with impressive connectivity, new and improved solutions with electric cars and e-scooters, and profound developments in the sharing-economy for mobility have spurred these changes. There are many new transport solutions that leverage technology to match commuter needs and demands, provide more travel options and help bridge the first and last mile connections in commuter journeys.

In densely populated cities like Singapore, urban mobility has become more than a buzzword, and the innovations have changed our urban lifestyle on a very real basis.  Mobile apps allow us to hail private vehicles; bicycles and personal mobility devices enable people to move around quickly and conveniently; and self-driving vehicles are being tested for application in the urban landscape.

As our public transport network grows, we are also finding ways to improve connectivity from homes and offices to the public transport nodes. SMRT has invested heavily to improve the reliability and expand the capacity of our rail and bus services. A lot of work is being done to renew our ageing rail infrastructure and incorporate new technologies in our rail systems to provide commuters with a better travel experience. At the same time, we recognise the shifts in the urban mobility landscape and changes in commuter travel preferences and usage patterns. In realising our vision of ‘Moving People and Enhancing Lives’, we see  it as our responsibility to improve the overall transport ecosystem by providing more door-to-door travel options to better serve the needs of commuters.  We do this by building on our core capabilities as a public transport operator and leveraging on emerging technologies to provide new services to our commuters.

One year ago, SMRT forged a partnership with NTU and JTC to research and test-bed mobility-as-a-service solutions. The collaboration between a transport operator, academia and master developer is unique and very powerful. Each partner brings a unique skillset and adds value to the tri-partite relationship. I am pleased to say that this partnership has yielded much fruit. I would like to acknowledge and thank NTU and JTC for their partnership.

Today, we launch mobilityX as an SMRT seeded start-up. mobilityX will lead SMRT’s efforts in urban mobility to improve our commuters’ journeys with greater agility and energy.  mobilityX will adopt a holistic view of “mobility-as-a-service” (which Colin will explain in more detail).  It will include both upstream and downstream efforts in transport planning and operations as well as provide users with various transport options through a single integrated platform available at their fingertips. The platform will even learn about users’ commuting preferences, adapt, and optimise itself with the help of smart technologies and big data analytics.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PARTNERS

I would like to thank our strategic partners, CapitaLand and SingTel, for their commitment and support. In addition, I would like to thank our mobility partners - Airbike, Continental, Deloitte, Floatility, Mobike, Neuron Mobility, Obike, SWAT mobile, Telepod and 2getthere Asia. Thank you for making mobilityX an exciting reality, and for being an integral part of our goal to change the face of urban mobility in Singapore and beyond. 

Thank you.