how can shared mobility be improved?

Car-sharing companies with profit maximisation goals may be harrmful to society if there it no government regulation. These companies can freely set prices that the public will have to follow. Thus, private car-sharing companies to function sustainability, the government should intervene such that society's welfare is maximised.

How do countries improve on the shared mobility system? In a country like Singapore where land space is limited, the government encourages the usage of shared mobility via public transport systems.  Instead of depending largely on car-sharing companies to promote sustainability, countries should instead integrate these systems together with current transportation methods such that efficiency is increased.

Countries should firstly have an effective public transport system that can deter them from purchasing private vehicles. For public transit systems to be efficient, they have to be: affordable, high in frequency, convenient and reliable.

Singapore's public transportation is successful mainly because it fulfills the aspects as mentioned above. Rides high in frequency - MRTs taking an average of 3 minutes each train and buses taking an average of 15 minutes.

Also, the system is convenient - the government is constantly increasing the number of bus services and MRT routes such that these modes of transport remain convenient to everyone. MRT systems are increasingly interconnected - with the introduction of the Circle Line, Downtown line and the upcoming Cross Island Line, the government is ensuring our public transport systems are increasingly improved such that it presents as a a good, and even better alternative to using private vehicles.

Next, the public transport system is affordable. Adults in Singapore have the option of buying concession passes for both MRTs and buses - this adds up to about $120 per month. Given the convenience and reliability (although questionable today) of our public transport systems, this sum is very affordable to majority of Singaporeans.

The graph below shoes the public transport ridership from 2005 to 2014. There is an exponentially increase in bus and MRT ridership, whereas the ridership for taxis have increased only marginally. This suggests that increasing number of people are using public transportation. The increase in taxi ridership is relatively stagnant throughout the years, suggesting that this increase comes from the growing population and workforce.



In addition to having an efficient public transport system, it is important to integrate car-sharing companies into the country seamlessly. This means that Uber, Grab and Lyft should not compete directly with the public transport systems - they should instead complement one another. For example, according to a new report from the American Public Transport Association,services like Uber and Lyft "are most frequently used for social trips between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., times when public transit runs infrequently or is not available. As such, Uber and the public transport systems do not overlap. 

references
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-read-more-time-effort-needed-gain-public-transportation-buy-experts-say
http://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Barter-Sg-urban-transport-sustainable-by-design-or-necessity.pdf
https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=38dc4ca3-5e70-4bf8-97bc-87f78e6303e7
http://www.apta.com/resources/reportsandpublications/Documents/APTA-Shared-Mobility.pdf