Singapore's public transport system has been ranked top in the world by US-based travel website Far & Wide, beating London in second place and Hong Kong in third place, among other cities.

The website cited high commuter satisfaction rates and affordable charges, even for tourists, for the Republic's top billing.

Tourists pay $10 for unlimited rides on buses and trains for a day in Singapore. A similar pass in Madrid and London costs about $13 and $22 respectively.

Hong Kong's tourist travel pass also costs about $10 a day, but children aged three to 11 ride for about $5 a day. In Singapore, children who are 0.9m tall and below ride for free.

Far & Wide cited an international survey by consulting firm McKinsey in 2018 for Singapore taking top spot in its "Cities with Best Public Transportation" ranking. The McKinsey survey showed that about 86 per cent of respondents were satisfied with Singapore's public transport system, the highest score among the top 10 cities.

"Why are so many people pleased? To start, Singapore boasts cutting-edge electronic services, including a newly enhanced trip planner, and ticketing options, like an easy-to-use ez-link card that handily connects to an app," said Far & Wide.

The website also noted that the Singapore Government was undertaking ambitious plans to further expand and increase the reliability of the MRT system.

The Land Transport Authority announced last week that as part of improvements to the public transport network, it has bought 40 new trains for the North-South and East-West MRT lines, the first of which will start running in 2024.

Far & Wide is run by parent company Granite Media, which was launched in July 2017. Including Far & Wide, Granite has six consumer sites under its portfolio focused on topics such as parenting, pets and sports.

Paris and Madrid rounded off the top five in Far & Wide's ranking for public transport, placing fourth and fifth respectively.