(Updated: 21 July 2025)
You may know of STC now as the group creating the ground-up alternative to LTA’s Land Transport Master Plan, or the numerous thought-provoking articles about local transport issues in Singapore. Or perhaps the above don’t concern you, but you’ve enjoyed your fair share of fun from joining our events and the lively, sometimes nonsensical chatter on our Discord server. Behind whatever you love or hate about STC, is a long journey from one individual to the collective energy of hundreds.
The First Steps
Singapore Transport Collective traces its origins to the SG Transport Critic blog, first established on July 8, 2020.
First established as a personal blog by founder (and current Chief Director) @ameowcat, the idea of STC predates its initial formation by years — he originally envisioned a blog criticising the numerous faults of the Singapore transport system as early as 2017, when declining reliability, lapsing rail maintenance, and underperforming service levels resulted in plummeting confidence in local public transport. Despite initial recoveries with the completion of NSEWL renewal in 2018, much deeper systemic issues continued to persist well into the next decade.
SG Transport Critic was hence established in the midst of lockdown measures in 2020, with the sour memories of underperforming transit from the previous decade and the impact of pandemic on public transport services heavily shaping early commentary, with an emphasis on abundant service that continues to inform suggestions made by the Collective to this day. In its initial years, STC took heavy inspiration from other influential publications on the internet, including Jarrett Walker’s Human Transit, From the Red Line, among others. Some of these influences continue to be felt on our site to this day, such as the Basics series.
Another defining event that year was the largely unpopular DTL2 bus rationalisations, which solidified the STC position of rejecting the traditional dichotomy of “higher-order” and “lower-order” transit in planning and operations.
Early Troubles
As a blog that actively calls out major policy error in current transport administration, we had no illusion that all would be smooth-sailing. To this day, we remain steadfast and prepared to tackle challenges that people in power may pose to us.
In January 2021, a misread statement in our content triggered a report on the STC blog, forcing it to shut for three months. We came back stronger — post-incident reflections formed the basis of our modus operandi reflected in our four “R”s — Rant, Realise, Reinvent, Rebuild. With criticism and analysis of the present as the basis of formulation of theory, these observations and theories eventually build towards STC’s ultimate goal of making a better future for Singapore’s public transport, possible. The 4R framework would guide STC’s work all the way up till our rebranding in 2025.
STC rebooted in April 2021, with old articles progressively restored through the following year.
The first travellers
While STC previously had co-authors in 2020, their editorial presence unfortunately remained temporary and informal. Conception of STC as an editorial team, rather than a one-man project, only took off in late 2021 with the addition of multiple new authors, who continue to play major roles in the Team to this day.
The concept of a “Team” collectively guiding the direction of STC’s work was first mooted in July 2022, with the establishment of the first communications channels with the increased number of authors on the site. On July 31st, the Team STC Discord server was created to further expedite exchange between Team members, initially as a private server limited only to Team members.
Recognised
On STC’s 2nd anniversary, July 8th 2022, our work was first showcased on general mainstream media when TODAYonline featured our article to explain the lack of utility of tip-up seats on certain MRT trains, first introduced in 2018. This marked the first time STC received public exposure beyond limited transport enthusiast circles, and the beginning of our catering to a more diverse audience beyond those already interested in transport issues. Beyond our expanded audience, the addition of new authors during this period formed the basis for the formation of a “Team”
STC would continue to be featured sporadically in mainstream media reports on public transport, interestingly with most of the focus about seating on buses and trains. In November 2022, STC’s first collaborative piece was published — by a RICE Media journalist investigating the adequacy of seat dimensions on public buses. We are honoured to have played an integral part in her inquiry.
For the wider community
On March 25th, 2023, the Team STC Discord server, previously private to only Team members, was opened to the public, marking the start of interactions between the STC team and the wider community out there. Comprising a mix of enthusiasts, concerned citizens and international transport observers today, the Discord server has since bred a dynamic and vibrant community seeking ways to better our transport system. The link to join us is permanently attached at the bottom of our website!
With this critical link established between readers and STC’s team, it made possible another key aspect of the STC experience today — community events, hosted both in real life and offline. On September 5th, 2023, the first of many STC events was hosted — a visit to the CRL Stage 1 Project Information Centre. These have been well-received over the years, and will continue to evolve and remain central to the shared memories of the STC community. Our largest-scale event was held on December 10th, 2024: the opening of Punggol Coast station, graced by more than 40 Team members and readers.
More ways to participate
In February 2024, SG Transport Critic launched guest posting, enabling non-regular publications by members of the public. Inspired by the Human Transit blog accepting sporadic external input, this was aimed to further increase the reach of STC’s content without demanding full author commitment from interested parties.
2024 also marked the beginning of STC’s diversification, with the introduction of “Collaborators” — Team members that did not actively publish blog articles, but nonetheless contributed to STC projects in other capacities where needed. In turn, this formed the basis of numerous reforms made the following year, which recognised a more diverse range of talents that were of value to the Collective.
Beyond a blog
In July 2024, STC began work on its flagship project for the years 2024 / 2025 — Transport Manifesto 2050, aimed to be the ground-up alternative to LTA’s Land Transport Master Plan (supposedly aimed for 2050 too). With significant time and effort invested, requiring the active participation of the wider community, this represented an active break from a strictly blogging nature. Numerous members who made significant contributions in the course of TM50’s development were also recognised, with some attaining Team ranks later.
TM50 marks the first major project undertaken in STC’s history, and beyond its immediate impact on pressuring the authorities to adopt policies that better achieve people-centric outcomes for the future, it served a significant purpose in providing valuable insight for organising and running large-scale projects involving significant numbers of people. These experiences will be considered for similar projects the Collective undertakes in future.
Imagining 2050, and beyond
TM50 was publicly announced on January 2nd, 2025, with follow-up works on various Key Initiatives proceeding through the year. With five Key Initiatives encompassing more than a dozen sub-projects and initiatives between them, the scale and scope of TM50 far exceeds that offered by any other LTMP. The first proposal in the Manifesto, the Holland-Long Island MRT line (Phases 1 – 3), was released on 4th February, 2025.
A change of name, but not heart
The name “SG Transport Critic” retired on 22nd July, 2025, with the launch of STC’s new website and identity, “Singapore Transport Collective”, which aimed to reflect the more community-based and cooperative approach STC aims to take on in its advocacy and outreach strategy moving forward. Multiple other reforms were also made leading up to this major refresh, to align our group with our evolving needs.
“Author” and “Collaborator” roles were abolished and unified under a single “Team” identity, to reflect the expansion of STC into different domains that go beyond just blogging as in the past. The new website was also structured for encompassing a more diverse portfolio of content creation, whilst leaving room for facilitating STC’s planned community outreach efforts, as well as other projects launched under its brand.
Under a new brand that inspires confidence in cooperative efforts in advocacy and design that better Singapore’s transport and urban planning, a new era marked by extensive collaboration and outreach with stakeholders in Singapore urban transport may be ushered in. STC’s new tagline, “Creating Possibilities Together”, is an invitation for all to jointly work towards a better tomorrow.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to you, readers and members of our STC community, for defining who we are, and for bringing us to where we are today. The STC story is still being written, and may we transcend new boundaries in our work every day, to chart ever more significant milestones worthy of chronicle on this page.
Singapore Transport Collective 