Read on to the end, as just like last year, we have many important updates to announce here too!
Amidst all our busy schedules, time really slips by at an alarmingly quick pace. Before we know it, it’s that time of the year again where we celebrate yet another wonderful year together as one STC. As time passes, many of us are going into the next stage of our lives beyond the immature enthusiasts we once were, but it is heartening to note that despite shouldering more responsibilities elsewhere now, there continues to be renewed commitment towards nurturing the STC community, and to which I am most deeply grateful to my Team for.
The past year in particular however, has particularly stood out for the unprecedented scale of challenges that the Team and our community has faced, which has driven us to be ready to adapt in an environment that has grown increasingly less predictable. Beyond just the obvious usurpers in technology that arguably the entire transport industry must contend with, the shifting dynamics in the community with our growth compels us to reflect upon why we continue to remain active in the field of engaging in local transport advocacy. While I can’t use the same pun as the folks at Tower Transit have been using, it takes serious tenacity to rise to the occasion in trying times, and at least in my opinion, we have done relatively well as one STC in order to achieve what we have had thus far.
From a small-scale personal blog founded during the pandemic to organising a group capable of engaging with LTA and other stakeholders in the public transport landscape in six years, it continues to remain a significant feat for someone that initially lacked the capital to break into these discussions. To be at the table for deciding the future of Singapore’s transport, even if symbolically, remains a great honour for us.
“I joined STC all the way back in 2024, when it still had its old name and website. In the 2 years since then, I think STC has gone very far beyond its roots. From a small transport blog into a large community interacting with the public and LTA, STC definitely has a bright future ahead of it! And with the Holland-Long Island Line becoming a semi-reality, in 3 days, under the direction of SRRG, it’s time to appreciate where we’ve come from, and where we’re going.”
~ zeyeeter | MD (Founder SRRG)
Enough has been said in past year posts about our chronology in blog publication, which I’m guessing is probably starting to bore readers the same way longform posts bore people, based on viewer stats over the past months. In a twist, let’s take a look back at what STC has been doing instead over the years. As part of commemorating our sixth anniversary, this post will also offer a rare glimpse into some of our past activities, some of which has never been publicly revealed before.
July 2020: SG Transport Critic is born
No matter how many times the story is retold, it always goes the same way: fed up with enough inadequacy in the public transport network in the years leading up to the pandemic, I took the time to finally create a blog writing about all these transport issues in Singapore one fine evening in the middle of 2020. The rest is history, of course.
Here’s a special treat for those who miss the old SG Transport Critic: we’re bringing back the very first post ever published as a commemorative showcase on the current site this STC Day. Originally archived on the old site, the full content of the original post has been replicated here. Would 2020 me have thought of what the current STC was doing? Unlikely.
As for the other posts from the old site, they will definitely be slowly migrated over too, but our packed schedules may prove tough for this to happen as soon as we’d hoped.
November 2021: A team forms
Some may look at the large STC Team comprising many people of diverse talents and wonder: how did we get here from one guy’s personal transport blog? Well, sometime in end-2021, individuals inspired by the work of the original STC blog wrote in requesting to be part of the action too. Having multiple authors on the site paved the way for a Team to form the following year, and subsequently the STC leadership as you know it today!
July 2022: Coverage beyond the blog
Two years after our founding, we were first featured on CNA as part of an investigative dig into the then-new tip-up seats introduced on newer MRT trains:
A wider exposure helped grow our audience significantly, with some key Team members also joining during this period. They have contributed significantly to STC’s development in the years since!
“We came a long way since our founding in 2020. There were many pitfalls we had to handle and opportunities that we took, and glad that everyone was able to keep in contact with STC, be it via our blog or SRRG. Thank you for partnering with us, our external transport friends.”
~ Belvis | iD (Founder STCraft)
Later that year, we received a collaboration request from RICE Media to support the production of another investigative article on the width and comfort of bus seats.
Thank you CNA and RICE Media for these invaluable feature opportunities. As you’ll see later, we will continue to welcome media enquiries and look forward to answering your curious queries about our public transport system.
July 2023: Going public
What initially started off as a server for communicating between Team members became the basis for opening up exchange between authors and readers of the original STC blog beyond just the limited WordPress comment sections. The STC Discord server opened to the public in mid-2023, and we’ve grown from a small 5-man team back in the day to a thriving online community numbering more than 500 strong today!
Join our Discord server to discover our vibrant community and meet the people who have made STC possible over the years. Scan the QR code on the left, or click the button at the bottom of the page to enter!
September 2023: A communal affair
“It’s been quite a while since I joined STC and I honestly can’t believe how much we’ve done over the past few years, going so far as reaching out to LTA’s senior planners. I would say that this shows that our cause is worth fighting for, and our team has the potential to do great things in the future. Here’s to more great years ahead for STC!”
~ Syrup | FP
With the launch of our new community came new ways to engage with our follower base beyond just online interaction. Soon after the Discord server opened, STC hosted its first physical meetup at the CRL Stage 1 Project Information Center which opened just the month before. The PIC visit, among many other events hosted in the STC community since then provided many valuable opportunities for our distinguished members to meet not just us Team members, but also fellow readers, forming tighter bonds with each other.
Since then, event hosting for various occasions such as new line openings, or visits to exhibitions and project information centers have become a mainstay of community life in STC, and more such events will come in the future!
February 2024: Opening the floor
Inspired by Jarrett Walker’s Human Transit blog, we opened guest posting submissions in early 2024. This scheme aimed to give members of the public an opportunity to express themselves through the STC blog without having to become regular contributors on the site, thus broadening the range of views that we express in our publications, in support of our belief to represent the people of Singapore in transport affairs locally.
The guest posting scheme will be folded into the STC Partner Program effective today, 8th July 2026. Details about the refreshed program are announced below, so do read to the end! 🙂
July 2024: The BIG project
In the early days of the STC blog, I personally referenced many times the idea of my own alternative masterplan to the LTMP 2040, which released in 2019. It never really took off, until we began throwing ideas for the expansion of the rail network with a larger community available to contribute insightful ideas that all went towards the formation of TM50 to this day.
The Transport Manifesto 2050 aims to envision an alternate future blueprint to Singapore’s land transport for the year 2050, encompassing all aspects in rail, bus, road, active mobility and policy. Three key commitments underpin the Manifesto’s proposals and initiatives: the people-first commitment, the travel time commitment, and the car-lite commitment. Do check out the (WIP) website for details, and the website will be completed as more details are released publicly!
I should also share a lesser-known tidbit about how where TM50 began too: there was an article (circa. 2020? 2021?) on the old site making the case for reactivating the Rail Corridor (formerly the KTM mainline from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands and on to Johor) for passenger railway transport, in similar fashion to the East Rail Line on the Hong Kong MTR. A member from the community got inspired by it and brought up suggestions on how to feasibly implement such a strategy, which led down the rabbit hole of in-depth planning of the other rail lines that form the Rail Master Plan 2050 which we publicly released in December 2025:
The ironic part? We haven’t released details of the “Bukit Timah Railway” (the KTM revival concept first mooted in that ancient article of mine) yet, despite it kickstarting the whole of TM50. Fret not, that’s coming out later this year (trust)
December 2024: Avengers Assemble
“It’s been a long 6 years, and honestly 3 years in the team has really taught me a lot. From better transport planning to bringing myself to be more proactive, I think that I have learnt a lot from being part of STC. The team, as part of STC, has too! When I returned to STC, TM50, SRRG and so much had happened, which really shows our progress as a collective. 6 years done, and here’s to many more, from ideas, to reality.”
~ keilucatz | MD
We hosted our largest meetup yet during the opening of the new Punggol Coast MRT station in December 2024, with about 40 people from the Team, TM50 ExCo and our community coming together to tour the new Punggol Digital District. Attendees were also given a sneak peek of plans under development as part of the Manifesto, which would only begin to be publicly released two months later. Honestly, we can’t remember whether later events have surpassed it in turnout rates, with similarly large gatherings for subsequent meetups, particularly exclusive showcases in collaboration between STC and external agencies. We haven’t been keeping track of the numbers, oops :p
Feb 2025: Into game development, and new subsidiaries
In parallel with planning work for TM50, the Singapore Rail Roblox Group (SRRG) was established in early 2025 as a subsidiary of STC specifically in charge of translating TM50 into reality — a virtual one, that is. Modelled after real-life Singapore, SRRG’s games aim to give the public a glimpse of how TM50’s Rail Master Plan will significantly benefit journeys in areas currently with poor rail connectivity as a result of legacy planning decisions. The first of many was the Holland-Long Island Line’s first phase between Jurong Innovation District and Maju, and launched for public viewing on 13th December 2025.
Two other TM50 rail lines are confirmed in the pipeline — the Bukit Timah Railway following the Rail Corridor, and the North-South Line West Coast Extension (in lieu of the officially-suggested JRL extension).
July 2025: From gray to purple
“What a feat from everyone involved, propping up our blog for 6 years – and we have just started! As we continue to evolve and adapt ourselves to the changing needs of the community, we become more cohesive, with a better direction, a common aim – to promote ground-up advocacy for our land transport system. As a public asset with many, many stakeholders, I am glad our blog has given us a voice. Of course, do let us know how we can improve, for the next years and beyond. “
~ theroyaluprising | SD
As our involvement in transport affairs became increasingly diverse beyond just the original blog, it became clear that maintaining a team formed exclusively of authors publishing articles was unsustainable to meet the growing demands of our work, and the community we serve. As we celebrated our fifth anniversary last year, we began the work to revamp STC into more than just an online publication — we were now a community that was doing so much more.
Beyond just migrating to a refreshed website that can host everything else we do (and a simpler URL to memorise!) and changing the colour of our logo to purple, our Team went through a great shakeup as well: with one unified Team comprising different functional groups, each specialising in a particular area of operations that STC currently maintains as part of our various initiatives. This also paved the way for different types of talent to enter our Team and carry out many of the new projects and initiatives associated with STC today!
August 2025: Join our events too!
As we transitioned to a more public-facing transport community which also dabbles into organising events, it only made sense that we open our events for public invitation too!
STC held a series of exclusive events in partnership with external agencies in late-2025, which drew significant reception and enthusiasm from both members and the wider public alike. Thank you for coming down to support us!
We are also in the process of studying possible new formats for events, to cater to different types of people who may be interested in different aspects of our transport and urban planning. Stay tuned by subscribing to our newsletter, and we will publish more updates in due time when they are ready! We sincerely look forward to meeting you at our next event!
September 2025: Hearing from YOU!
Beyond just hearing from our community online, we want to hear from the wider public too. And we want to hear not just from enthusiasts who have been carrying transit discourse, but also from different stakeholders in our transport landscape who also have much to say, and benefit significantly from using our transport infrastructure.
As part of a new initiative to walk the ground, we introduced monthly Transit Roundtables for our Team and members to hear from the wider public their thoughts on recent transport developments and air their grievances. We listen attentively and have been working towards incorporating their feedback into both our TM50 proposals and separate correspondence with the respective government agencies.
From discussing major MRT breakdowns to ideas for friendlier streets (more so than the official LTA initiative) and examining last-mile connectivity, it has been a learning process even for our Team members seasoned with the knowledge of the transport field too.
“Dear readers, thank you sincerely for your support throughout STC’s journey thus far. We appreciate the trust that readers place in us that has coalesced into the foundation of our decision-making and transportation planning. We encourage readers to continue making a difference with us, backing the joint vision to make Singapore a more transit-lite city to live in.”
~ megaray8121 | FP
December 2025: Designing transport in a sandbox
Hot on the heels of the SRRG launch in December, we launched another game development project to further our experience in understanding transport management: STCraft, where we test out planning, construction, and operation of a network of various transport modes serving various key locations in a virtual Minecraft world with players having real transport needs. Launched in January 2026, the STCraft server remains in beta testing phase while transport-related modpacks continue to be tested and integrated with the functioning of the server.
No, we didn’t ban elytras or the nether, but adding infrastructure to an otherwise barren world in between is what makes playing sandbox games like Minecraft so much more fulfilling!
March 2026: Cars matter, too
While STC has been primarily focused on public transport issues (and sometimes active mobility too, with how closely intertwined the two are), we also keep tabs on current affairs regarding cars here, for as much as they seem like the annoying nuisance impeding car-lite goals, they remain important stakeholders in our land transport, and a necessary evil for some too. Earlier this year, we visited the Beyond Motion exhibition showcasing the latest in EV offerings in the regional market, following a similar visit to the smaller ChargedUp@SG 2.0 EV showcase last year.
Lots of photos were taken and many important pointers were noted, and you can read all about it in this post authored by our Team’s car guru @lemonnarc below:
June 2026: Delving into data
After a post I wrote questioning the effectiveness of the current strategy in managing MRT overcrowding (spamming peak express City Direct services to the moon), the thought of compiling statistics for every single peak-hour express bus service struck me. The rabbit hole went very deep, and I fondly remember the STC community betting on which service had the lowest ridership while the report awaited completion, but to say the least, a new style of publication was thus born.
Tentatively titled STCommuter Reports (does anyone have better names to suggest? :crying:), this new publication focuses on statistical analysis of our public transport, and you can export more such reports to surface soon!
July 2026: Coming full circle
This is quite a special week indeed. As STC celebrates six splendid years, our anniversary is sandwiched in the shadow of a larger transport event — the open houses and formal opening of the Circle Line’s Stage 6 which finally closes the loop after 17 long years. To reflect on where we have come thus far as (an imperfect, and in dire need of expansion) rail network, and a transport community that has grown since I first joined, it feels surreal to witness firsthand what was once repeatedly touted as “the far away future”.
“Thanks a lot readers for being together with us on this journey through our homeland’s transportation system! Here’s to another 6 years of reaching even greater heights for readers, for STC, for Singapore, and beyond!”
~ Plentk | MD
And it’s now our turn to create the next “far away future” as pioneers of a new era in Singapore transport history.
Welcome, fellow traveller. This journey is for you and I to chart together.
Creating greatness, together.
Back when we were still just a blog producing only text articles about our transport system, we opened up guest posting as a means for the general public to write about their experiences with our transport too. We’ve also received some requests for such publications too over the years as well. The passion and desire for our public transport to become better has not subsided, and in a pivotal year for its future with the currently-ongoing LTMP engagements, this gives us confidence that even if transport planning isn’t in the best hands, there will remain a sufficiently-sized force capable of pushing for positive reforms within government, and outside of it.
But we’ve expanded greatly since our initial beginnings as a transport blog, with events, projects and new activities added to our roster in tandem with our major revamp last year. We think it’s quite unfair that only our publications are open for public contribution while our other activities remain exclusive to us. To shake things up, it’s time for the wider public to get on board with the rest of our activities too!
From today, we launch the STC Partner Program, an open collaboration platform for individuals and groups alike to work with STC to jointly build our visions for better transport in Singapore (and maybe beyond?). The guest posting scheme will continue to remain available for submissions, but now folded under the Partner Program as one possible avenue for collaborations. Check out the page for more details!
(As it appears that the WordPress submission form has some problems currently, please submit your SPP proposal forms and guest posts to us via email for the time being)
Currently, the main possibilities we’ve thought of for potential partnerships with us fall into the following categories:
- Guest Posting (carried over from previous scheme)
- Interviews / Consultations
- Social Media Collaborations
- Joint Events
- Joint Projects
For the daring and imaginative with other ideas that go beyond what we’ve stated here, bring them on! Drop us an email with your proposal and we will study it carefully nevertheless.
Big things are coming too
On behalf of our subsidiary SRRG, we are delighted to share with you that the updated Holland-Long Island Line, version 1.1, will be launched on 11th July 2026, in time for the opening of CCL Stage 6 the following day!
Players can look forward to a more seamless gaming experience (with a new rail design that prevents derailments, chronic in older versions of the game), with refreshed aesthetics for the six HLL1 stations as well as new additions to the surrounding area around these stations!
More TM50 rail extensions will be added to the SRRG repertoire in the coming months too!
There’s also a chance of a potential joint STC-SRRG activity later this year, so do stay tuned for further updates by following both the STC and SRRG pages on our social media as well. Details remain hazy, but it involves YOUR input to the future of Singapore’s rail network. Come on in!
PS: STC now has a “virtual office” location in the Jurong Innovation District!
On top of that, some may also be wondering why progress on TM50 has been significantly slower than previously announced, with barely any updates coming from us this year. We apologise for the delay, which has been inflicted by less than desirable circumstances over the course of the past year, but those interested in a better future for Singapore’s land transport can look forward to a major drop coming in August, which hopefully alleviates the content drought from that end, particularly for matters outside of rail. In particular to those interested in what TM50 has in store for buses, roads and active mobility, sorry to keep you waiting!
With engagement on longform blog articles declining over the years, we are also looking at expanding our publications to new forms that deliver the same message, on platforms that the general public would be more likely to see, in ways that would better capture and retain the attention of our audiences. We look forward to kickstarting the conversation with you there!
As mentioned earlier too, we are also looking at new formats of event planning that may interest more people beyond those already motivated to find out the very technical details of our public transport. So far, many events involve first-day walkarounds (for new MRT lines, or new towns), or visits to exhibitions such as PICs and other showcase events. Plans are underway to introduce more activities that may be more conducive for direct interaction between the community and our Team members too. Stay tuned for more updates, coming in the near future too!
It has been a very eventful six years for us here at STC, and if there’s one group of people which deserve the most thanks, it’s not us in purple who deserve it, but you, the reader and our most valued audience. For not only have you stood with us through the thick and thin of our struggle for better public transport in Singapore, the battles we fought yesterday and today would have been lost without the weight of your continued support towards our common cause of building a people-centric transport system. To have shared the joys and sorrows of our journey in this community together, and to have engaged in the lively debate engaging a hundred trains of thought over the years, remains our utmost honour.
“6 Years of the STC. It certainly wasn’t an easy feat, but we made it! To me, this 6th anniversary feels like watching a newborn being sent to Kindergarten for the first time, a core memory indeed.
~ LemonNarc | SD
Once again, a big thank you to everyone for reading, watching, participating, and meticulously supporting us all these years! Here’s to 10 years and beyond!”
On behalf of my beloved Team, I wish all a happy sixth anniversary to the Singapore Transport Collective, and may we continue to strive forward for a better future for ourselves, and our successors.
A Meow Cat
Chief Director, Singapore Transport Collective
Interested in building a better future for Singapore’s transport? Join the STC community on Discord today!
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