Singapore Expressways Rated: KPE, KJE, ECP, TPE and PIE Out of 10

ECP 8/10, PIE 7/10: the two that earned it

The ECP takes the top spot for one reason: the road towards the Singapore Flyer at night. The Flyer lit up beside you and the water below, and for about a minute you forget you are just driving home from work. It is also the only expressway here with a backstory that sounds made up. The National Library's history of our expressways says the ECP was built entirely on reclaimed land, in four phases between 1971 and 1981.

The PIE gets 7, and it loses points in one exact spot. The Toa Payoh Lorong 1 entrance is what we call the Merge of Doom. Anyone who has tried to get in there at 6pm knows. The PIE is also the oldest and longest expressway on the island at 42.8km, which explains a lot about why every second car seems to be on it. We did the same kind of honest ranking for Singapore's MRT stations, if you prefer suffering underground.

KPE 6/10, KJE 5/10: fine until they are not

The KPE is Singapore's tunnel expressway: 12km long with a 9km tunnel, fully opened on 20 September 2008, and the longest underground road in Southeast Asia when it was finished, per the National Library Board. Our complaint is not the tunnel. It is the night you drive in and find a stretch closed, and our caption for it was "why waze never tell me today close ah". Six out of ten.

The KJE gets 5. It is a nightmare during peak hours and genuinely chill at 3am, which is a very specific type of road to be. At 8.4km it is short, so at least the suffering is brief.

TPE 4/10: the one that lost

The TPE comes last. The jam during peak hours is, in our words on the slide, actually crazy. Lorries, buses and a wall of motorbikes threading through, all heading the same way at the same time.

To be fair to it, the TPE is a pretty drive when it moves, with a lot of greenery along the edges. That just does not help much when nothing is moving. Part two of this list is coming, so the AYE, BKE, CTE and SLE have been warned.

FAQs

Which is the longest expressway in Singapore?

The PIE, at 42.8km, according to the National Library Board's history of Singapore's expressways. It is also the oldest.

How much of the KPE is underground?

The KPE is 12km long and has a 9km tunnel. It fully opened on 20 September 2008 and was the longest underground road in Southeast Asia when it was completed.