Fewer commuters taking public transport on Monday and Friday

Experts attribute ridership to hybrid practice, with staff working remotely on those days

- Vanessa Paige Chelvan and Esther Loi

Ms Uma Shangari is usually in a hurry to get to work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which are "the busiest days in the office" for the resourcing coordinator at a multinational bank.

Her office has a hot-desking system, and "if you don't come in by 9.30am, you don't get a seat", she said.

The 32-year-old, who travels to work by train, said her journey from Clementi MRT station to Raffles Place is quieter on Monday and Friday.

Her observations are backed by public transport ridership figures for January to August 2024, which show a daily average of around 8.1 million bus and train journeys made from Tuesday to Thursday, 1.5 per cent higher than the 7.98 million journeys on Monday and Friday.

Conversely, during the first eight months of 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the daily average public transport ridership from Tuesday to Thursday was 8.3 million, lower than the 8.4 million on Monday and Friday, according to the latest ridership figures provided by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

Additionally, the daily average ridership on Monday and Friday from January to August 2019 was even higher than the weekday average of 8.37 million from Monday to Friday in that period.

The daily average number of passengers using buses and trains during the morning peak hour on Friday is 87 per cent of that on Wednesday from January to August 2024, compared with 97 per cent for the same period in 2019, LTA said.

Human resources and business experts told The Straits Times that these ridership figures reflect the rise of hybrid work arrangements that many companies here have put in place.