Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

4-2024

Abstract

The x-minute city has emerged as a popular concept in transport planning in the past decade. Usually associated with planning for 15-minute neighbourhoods, cities such as Sydney and Singapore have expanded the concept to include setting time targets for commutes. In Singapore, transport planners have committed to long term goals of 20minute neighbourhoods and a 45-minute city (for commuting trips) by 2040. This paper uses a dataset for 2,535 Singapore residents aged 55 to 75 years to investigate three related questions important for evaluating the 45-minute city goal: the predictors of long commutes; the relationship between commute time and life satisfaction; and the relationship between working from home (WFH) and life satisfaction. We found that 45.5% of Singaporeans living in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats and using walk-cycle-ride (WCR) modes were intensive travellers with one-way commutes of over 45 minutes. Transport planners seeking to increase usage of WCR modes and reduce commute times should provide more direct public transport services, reduce walk-andwait times, incentivise dispersal of employment closer to non-mature HDB estates, and encourage working from home (WFH). Contrary to the ‘commuting paradox’, longer commutes did not correlate with lower life satisfaction. The 2020 pandemic led to 30% of respondents WFH; however, WFH did not appear to be associated with higher levels of wellbeing.

Keywords

45-minute city, long commutes, commuting paradox, COVID-19 commuting impacts

Discipline

Transportation | Urban Studies

Research Areas

Applied Microeconomics

Areas of Excellence

Sustainability

Publication

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

First Page

1

Last Page

35

ISSN

0965-8564

Identifier

10.2139/ssrn.4785235

Publisher

Elsevier

Embargo Period

2-25-2026

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4785235

Download

Share

COinS