Long before a public transport system was in place, rickshaws – runner-drawn two-wheeled carts – were one of the earliest forms of public transportation in Singapore. Introduced in Singapore on 16th February 1880, manning rickshaws was a main source of income for thousands of Chinese immigrants for about 50 years. Unlike the single-seater rickshaws in Hong Kong, the Singaporean version were all double-seaters, and this load was only feasible as our roads were generally less hilly and steep. However in 1904, first-class single-seaters were introduced and these allowed the rickshaw pullers to earn more, and have their loads lessened as the single-seater’s capacity was smaller.

Meanwhile, in 1902, The Singapore Electric Transway Limited was given the green light to lay and run tramways. A total of six lines were laid through the town and trams started running in 1905. The trams, however, faced many problems including funding and competition. This caused the trams to be very unpopular among the people as it was much more costly than many other modes of land transportation.

Moving on to the year 1914, trishaws (an improvement of rickshaws) started to appear on the streets of Singapore, and driving trishaws soon became a popular option among the Chinese immigrants. This soon led to the extinction of the rickshaws, as trishaws were easier to manage in Singapore, and lesser effort was needed by the driver to transport the passengers as compared to pulling and running with a rickshaw.

In 1925, the Singapore Traction Company (STC) was established, and was given a 30-year monopoly to run trolley buses and motor buses within the town. By 1929, there were 90 trolley buses which covered a total distance of 30.5km. Individual operators also offered services in rural areas with “mosquito buses” (nicknamed as such due to their ability to weave in and out of traffic). In 1927, electronic tramcars replaced these trolley buses (which phased out in 1962 due to faster motor buses being introduced).

However, despite all these improvements in transport throughout the years, it has been deemed that the state of public transport was far from satisfactory. It was filled with numerous difficulties, like poor management and labour unrest, which led to a chain of riots, which forced the government to intervene. Eventually, three Chinese bus companies merged and formed the Singapore Bus Service(SBS), and through many series of reorganising, we now have SMRT buses LTD, and SBS transit.