LTA Land Transport Gallery

I had a chance to visit the LTA Transport Gallery some time back and the visit is quite informative. The admission is free and the Transport Gallery is located at the LTA office next to Little India MRT. The visit is interesting, especially for those who still recognized many of the ‘history items’ that are on display.

For example, do you recognise these bus guides (other than the latest versions)? In the past these guides were really named as SBS Bus Guides, and it was only much later that the name was changed to Transitlink Guide.

It was also pretty nostalgic to see the old bus tickets. I remember the days when I boarded buses and the bus conductor would walk around to ask the passengers for payment, then punched a slip of bus ticket. Unlike the later one – man coins operating system, the bus conductor actually gave change and there was no need to worry about having exact makeup of coins. Yes, all these would seem rather foreign to the younger generations who are used to the current contactless Ezlink card system.

There were other old items, pictures, and models to depict the history of our transport system. Here’s a picture of the pre-independence traffic controller, i.e. human traffic light! I wonder how it feels to be able to control traffic movement simply by the pulling of signboards. I guess it must have been a boring job to keep pulling left / right levers for the entire day.

Beyond historical developments, the Transport Gallery also showcased the current transport systems, with some models about the upcoming developments. Quite informational.

Those who are interested to visit the Transport Gallery, could give LTA a call at 63962550. The Gallery is opened from Tuesday to Sundays, except public holiday (yah it is quite different from other museums), from 9am to 5pm. The entire walk is about an hour or so, with slated tour group timing at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm.