At the first Car-Free Weekend held at one-north on 30 and 31 August, master planner and developer JTC Corporation (JTC) announced plans to work with local stakeholders towards making the mixed-use business park car-lite. This is in line with JTC’s efforts to create green and sustainable business parks for the working community and residents from the surrounding housing estates. By reducing the reliance on cars, and moving towards more sustainable modes of transportation, the community can enjoy a more liveable estate with less pollution and noise generated by cars.
To encourage the community to adopt a car-free lifestyle, JTC brought together more than 20 one-north companies including A*STAR, Mediacorp, Abbott, GSK, Tanglin Trust School and developer CapitaLand to pledge to go car-free on 30 August 2019. The companies activated 790 of their staff and tenants to take public transport, car pool or other sustainable alternatives.
In addition, JTC will be converting around 60 metres of Fusionopolis Way to a pedestrianised street on a trial basis between end September to early November 2019. The road is located at the heart of the Fusionopolis precinct, housing more than 90 companies and 13,000 workers. This will create a larger contiguous public space for the community to rest, relax and enjoy outdoor activities. The space will also be activated with community activities like pop-up installations.
To encourage the use of public transport, JTC has improved its first- and last-mile connectivity to its key public transport nodes - one-north and Buona Vista MRT stations. The one-north Rider shuttle bus transports 50,000 people monthly to and from key transport nodes. Buildings such as Fusionopolis One are integrated with the nearest MRT, and those in proximity to the MRT such as Star Vista and Galaxis have fully-sheltered walkways.
JTC will also make one-north more cyclist- and pedestrian-friendly by widening around 6 kilometres of footpaths from 1.5 metres to 2.5 metres or 3.5 metres, and constructing 800 metres of covered linkways across the 200-hectare estate. More than 25 dedicated parking zones for PMDs and bicycles have been demarcated at JTC- owned and private developers’ buildings.
CEO, CapitaLand Singapore, Malaysia & Indonesia, Business Park and Commercial, Tan Yew Chin said, “Sustainability is an integral part of CapitaLand’s business and we encourage our partners and staff to adopt sustainable mobility solutions. From greening our portfolio, designing our buildings for cyclists, to encouraging the community to reduce and recycle their waste, we will continue to expand our efforts to enable more sustainable lifestyles. We are glad to take part in this car-free pledge and will continue to play our part in reducing our carbon footprint.”
JTC’s Group Director of New Estates, Kok Poh June said, “Creating a car-lite one-north is a sum of many working parts – activating the community, changing mindsets, enhancing connectivity and improving existing infrastructure. We hope that the car-lite message will resonate with the community, and we aim to work together to achieve an attractive and vibrant environment.”
