1. Members of the public can pick up a handy guide on public transport and traffic information related to the 2008 FORMULA 1^TM SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, from today.

2. Some 500,000 information brochures are available at selected bus interchanges, MRT stations, petrol kiosks around the island, and at the Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints to equip the public with the latest information on road closures, public transport arrangements and how they can continue to access the establishments around the Marina Bay street circuit (please refer to Annex A for the list of pick up points).

3. The public may also download this map from the LTA homepage at www.lta.gov.sg.

ROAD CLOSURE INFORMATION

4. A series of road closures affecting the Marina Centre area will take place from 20 September to 2 October 2008 to facilitate the setting up and dismantling of the race infrastructure.

5. The road closures will be implemented in phases to minimise disruption to the public. The LTA has also taken into consideration the need to cater to morning peak hour traffic and will open three out of four lanes of a stretch of Nicoll Highway towards Shenton Way and the stretch from Republic Avenue to Raffles Avenue between 5.00am and 9.00am between 23 September 2008 and 1 October 2008 and between 6.00am and 9.00am on 2 October.

6. For safety reasons, motorists are advised not to stop along these roads to alight passengers as they are solely for traversing purpose. Motorists should obey the traffic advisory signs, electronic variable message signs and directions of the Auxiliary Police Officers (APOs) and Traffic Police Officers on duty. Enforcement action will be taken against those who violate the traffic rules.

7. During the road closure period from 20 September to 2 October, service delivery vehicles with special vehicles labels are allowed to access certain designated roads from 1.00am to 5.00am. They are required to follow the directions of the Auxiliary Police Officers (APOs) on duty and not to stop along the roads. Vehicles found parking illegally and causing obstruction will be towed away.

8. Pedestrians can continue to access all the establishments in the Marina Centre area via the underground CityLink walkway, the existing surface walkways and pedestrian overhead bridges. Pedestrian access to all buildings will be maintained when the race is on-going. However, access to buildings within the Circuit Park, namely The Esplanade and Singapore Flyer, will be restricted to Formula One^TM ticket holders only when the race is on.

9. To ensure business continuity for establishments in the Marina Centre area a limited number of special vehicle labels have been pre-assigned to stakeholders to allow them to use designated emergency lanes to access their buildings. When the race is ongoing, these emergency lanes will be closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles which are needed to support the race. APOs will be deployed at all affected road junctions to regulate traffic and assist motorists. Parking restriction along the peripheral roads will be strictly enforced. Vehicles found parking illegally and causing obstruction will be towed away.

10. Please refer to the attached annexes for the latest details of the road closures and pedestrian walking routes for the following dates:

• Pre-race road closure: Between 20 and 22 September (Annex B1)
• Pre-race road closure: Between 23 and 25 September (Annex B2)
• Race Weekend: Between 26 and 28 September (Annex B3)
• Post-Race road re-opening: Between 29 September and 2 October (Annex B4)

PUBLIC TRANSPORT ARRANGEMENTS

11. Visitors and commuters going to the Marina Centre area strongly encouraged to use public transport to get to their destinations as traffic delays may be expected during the period of the road closures.

12. The LTA has made provisions to ensure that public transport services such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and buses can cope with the expected increase in ridership.

MRT and Public Bus Services

13. Additional train trips have been introduced since May 2008 and these are expected to be able to cope with the anticipated increase in ridership.

14. A total of 27 public bus services travelling to the Padang and Marina Bay areas will be diverted to the nearest adjacent route. Please refer to Annex C for details. Signs will be put up at affected bus stops to inform the public in advance about the bus route diversions.

Free Bridging Bus Service

15. Commuters affected by the bus diversions and road closures also have the option of using a free bridging bus service which connects the City Hall and Bugis MRT stations to the Suntec-Marina Bay and Millenia areas. This bridging bus service will operate from 23 September to 29 September. Please refer to Annex D for the route of this bridging bus service and its stopping points.

Taxi Service

16. During the period of the road closure, taxis will not be allowed into the road closure areas, unless they are ferrying hotel guests who have a special Hotel Guest Pass. However, if traffic conditions allow, taxis may drop off passengers at the taxi stands at Suntec City Towers 1/2 and 3/4, Millenia Tower and a temporary taxi stand at Centennial Tower if they enter the area via Temasek Boulevard. Taxis can also drop off passengers at the temporary taxi stand at the driveway of Suntec City (next to Nicoll Highway).

17. The LTA will be working closely with the taxi companies to update them of the traffic conditions in the area, so that they are able to share this information with their drivers.

18. The public are also encouraged to take a taxi from the other taxi stands outside the road closure area.

RACE WEEKEND

19. During the race weekend (25 Sept to 28 Sept), race goers are strongly encouraged to make use of public transport to get to the Circuit Park.

20. Free shuttle bus services from Outram Park, Clarke Quay, Kallang and Lavender MRT stations are available to ferry race ticket holders to the vicinity of the Circuit Park. At the end of the race, these shuttle bus services will also be available to ferry race goers back to the respective MRT stations. Please refer to Annex E for details on how race-goers can go to their respective gates via public transport.

21. Over the race weekend, from 26 September to 28 September, all MRT services will run till 1.30am, while the free shuttle bus services for ticket holders will run till 1.00am.

22. Given the expected 100,000 strong crowd over the race weekend, especially on race day, race goers are advised to stagger their dispersal times to avoid being caught in the surge of human traffic at the MRT stations. Dispersal time from the Circuit Park is expected to take up to 1.5 to 2 hours. Race goers may want to patronise the various fringe events after the race instead of rushing off.

23. "As we gear up to make final preparations for the race, we are doing all we can to ensure those affected by the race preparation are fully armed with information to plan their trips carefully. While the road closures are in place, we would like to assure the public that businesses will still continue to operate as usual. However, we want to encourage the public to leave their cars at home and take public transport," said LTA Chief Executive, Mr Yam Ah Mee.