Getting Around Singapore: A Local's Guide to MRT, Buses, Grab & Walking

Getting around Singapore: the 30-second version

Tap any contactless bank card at the MRT gates and on buses — no tourist pass, no top-up card, and fares cap themselves. The MRT reaches almost everywhere until about 11:30pm, buses fill the gaps, and Grab covers late nights and luggage runs. Walking is a pleasure morning and evening, brutal at midday, and sheltered walkways cover more of the city than you’d expect. That’s 90% of what you need; the rest of this guide is the other 10%.

The one-line answer

Tap your contactless bank card on the MRT for almost everything, use Grab for the gaps, and never plan more than 15 minutes of outdoor walking between noon and 4pm. That's the whole system. The rest of this guide is the useful detail.

The MRT: your default

The Mass Rapid Transit network covers virtually everywhere a visitor wants to go. Trains run roughly 5.30am to midnight, arrive every 2–5 minutes, and are air-conditioned, spotless and safe at any hour. Fares are distance-based, roughly SGD 1.20–2.50 per trip.

Paying: thanks to SimplyGo, your contactless Visa or Mastercard — physical or in Apple/Google Pay — works directly at the fare gates. Tap the same card in and out. No queueing for a stored-value card, no top-ups, no leftover balance to burn on your last day.

Rules: no eating or drinking on trains (including water), no durians (genuinely signposted), stand on the left of escalators. Priority seats are taken seriously — offer them.

The MRT map: get the official one

Don't rely on a screenshot from a blog — the network genuinely keeps growing, and an out-of-date map is how visitors end up at the wrong interchange. Go straight to the source, all free:

The shape worth knowing before you arrive: over 170 stations across six MRT lines, plus two LRT lines feeding the suburbs. The Circle Line is the map's orienting feature — it loops the city centre, so most journeys are "in to the Circle, round, and out again". Trains run roughly 5.30am to midnight, every 2–3 minutes at peak (7–9am) and 5–7 off-peak. And note single-trip tickets were phased out years ago: tap a contactless bank card, as covered above.

Buses: the scenic layer

Buses accept the same contactless tap-in, tap-out and reach everywhere trains don't. They're slower but air-conditioned, and the front seat upstairs on a double-decker is the cheapest city tour in Singapore. Two operators run the network — SMRT and SBS Transit — but as a passenger you never need to care which bus is whose; the fare system is identical.

How it works in practice:

• Tap on and tap off. Unlike London, you must tap the reader again when alighting — forget and you're charged the maximum fare for that route. It's the single most common visitor mistake.
• Fares: distance-based, roughly SGD 1.19–2.37, and journeys chain — tap onto a bus within 45 minutes of leaving the MRT and you continue the same fare rather than starting a new one. Use the same card throughout the trip for this to work.
• Flag it down. At stops serving many routes, raise your hand as your bus approaches or it may sail past. Press the bell once for your stop.
• Routing: Google Maps handles Singapore buses accurately to the minute, including live arrivals. Locals also use MyTransport.SG (LTA's own app) or Citymapper — but you don't need a new app to ride a bus here.
• Accessibility: the fleet is fully wheelchair-accessible with kneeling ramps, and priority seats are genuinely respected.
• Night buses: limited services run late on weekends, but after midnight most people take Grab — see below.

Fares, routes and live timings for both operators are published at LTA's bus network page.

Taxis and Grab: when to stop taking the train

Download Grab before you arrive — it's Southeast Asia's Uber, shows the fare upfront, takes your card, and also delivers food. The alternatives are Gojek and TADA (often marginally cheaper, both fine). For street taxis, ComfortDelGro runs the biggest fleet — the blue and yellow cabs you'll see everywhere — with Trans-Cab and Prime also on the road.

What it costs: flagdown is roughly SGD 4.20–4.80, and most cross-town trips land between SGD 10 and 25. The catch is surcharges, which stack legitimately and surprise people:

• Midnight–6am: +50% of the metered fare. A SGD 20 ride home becomes SGD 30.
• Peak hours (weekday mornings, weekday evenings): +25%.
• City-area and airport surcharges apply on top, and booking a cab by app adds a fee that hailing one doesn't.
• ERP (the road-pricing gantries) is passed on to you — you'll see it added on the meter as you drive under one.

Taxi or Grab? Grab's upfront price is worth a small premium for most visitors — you know the cost before you commit, and there's no language or destination confusion. Metered taxis often win outside surge periods, and a taxi rank outside any mall or hotel is faster than waiting for an allocation in the rain. Both are safe at any hour.

When to abandon the MRT entirely: airport runs with luggage; anything after midnight (the trains stop, the surcharge is still cheaper than a bad night); the Mandai wildlife parks; travelling with elderly parents or a stroller; and any moment between noon and 4pm when the alternative is two line changes in the heat. At SGD 10–15, a cab is the best money you'll spend in Singapore.

Changi Airport to the city

• MRT: ~SGD 2, about 45 minutes to the city centre with one easy change at Tanah Merah or Expo. Cheapest, fine with a carry-on, tedious with big luggage.
• Grab/taxi: SGD 25–40 depending on time and surcharges, 20–30 minutes. The right call for families, late arrivals and anyone jetlagged.
• Full airport strategy — including what to do with 6, 12 or 24 hours in transit — is in the Changi layover guide.

Walking: the heat rules

Singapore is genuinely walkable in infrastructure and genuinely hostile in climate. Locals walk constantly — but strategically:

• Walk before 10am or after 5pm. The midday sun is not a personality test.
• Learn the sheltered routes: Singapore's covered walkways, underpasses and mall-to-MRT links mean you can often cross whole districts barely touching sunlight. CityLink Mall and the Marina Bay underground network are the classic examples.
• Every mall is a free, air-conditioned shortcut. Locals route through them shamelessly. So should you.

What about the Singapore Tourist Pass?

For most visitors, skip it. Unless you're taking six or more train rides a day, tapping your own contactless card is cheaper and simpler. The pass only pays off for very transit-heavy itineraries — and if you're planning one of those in this heat, we should talk about your itinerary instead.

Accessibility note

Every MRT station has lifts and barrier-free access, buses kneel and have ramps, and pedestrian crossings are generous with time. Singapore is one of the easiest cities in Asia for travellers with mobility needs — I've written more in the seniors and accessible travel guide.

Frequently asked questions