Singapore pedestrians outwalk rest of the world

The Straits Times, May 3, 2007
By Michelle Neo


SINGAPORE may be enforcing strict speed limits on its roads, but it cannot control the speed demons getting about on their own two legs.

Pedestrians here have clocked the world's fastest walking pace, outpacing their counterparts in New York and Tokyo, a British study done last year has found.

The pedestrians, unaware they were being timed, took an average of 10.55 seconds to walk 18m, outwalking pedestrians in New York, London and Tokyo - who ranked eighth, 12th and 19th respectively in a field of 32 cities.

Pedestrians in Copenhagen, Denmark came second and those in Madrid, Spain were third.

People here are also walking 30 per cent faster than they did in the early 1990s, which makes this island the place where the pace of walking is picking up the fastest.

In second-placed Guangzhou in China, the people's walking speed went up 20 per cent over the same period.

The study, jointly done by the University of Hertfordshire in London and the British Council, measured how long it took 70 unknowing pedestrians to walk 18m.

On Aug 22 last year, British Council officials across 32 cities clocked pedestrians' walking speeds between 11.30am and 2pm.

In Singapore, two officials parked themselves on the wide pavement outside Takashimaya Shopping Centre and timed 35 men and 35 women on the sly as they covered the set distance on foot. Only lone pedestrians were included in the survey.

Professor Richard Wiseman, who headed the study, said walking speeds were a reliable measure of the pace of life in a city and 'provide a significant insight into the physical and social health of a city'.

When told yesterday how speedy they were on foot, pedestrians along Orchard Road were unsurprised.

Madam Angela Ng, who is unemployed, said: 'Singaporeans do walk fast. It reflects the fact that everything is fast-paced now. We have to learn fast, work fast, or be left behind.'

Another pedestrian, Mrs Fiona Taylor, who used to live in an Australian beach suburb before coming to Singapore to work, said: 'Everyone here seems to have a purpose - they keep rushing because they don't want to lose time. They want to get the most out of their day.'

But Ms Dasha K., a 22-year-old Russian industrial designer who has lived here for eight years, felt Singapore pedestrians were slow compared to those in Hong Kong and Moscow. 'If I were to walk at this pace in Moscow, people would get irritated.'