The Public Transport Council (PTC) has approved a fare increase for train and bus card fares which will take effect starting from April 6 this year.
The fare hikes consist of a moderate increase of 3.5 to 5.5 per cent of existing adult fare but also with an alarming increase of 9.1 to 18.2 per cent for fares paid via cash for public bus transport. The same level of increase is seen with the train fares which can be viewed in the table below.
Concession schemes will be introduced by the government for low-income workers and persons with disabilities.
Low-income workers will enjoy 15 per cent discount off adult fares, and persons with disabilities will get 25 per cent discount. Persons with disabilities will also not have to pay additional fares for distances beyond 7.2 kilometres.
PTC will be introducing a new monthly unlimited travel pass for adult Singaporean and permanent residents, priced at S$120.
Apart from the travel pass for adults, there will also be an introduction of new monthly S$60 unlimited travel concession pass for senior citizens.
Children under the age of seven will get to apply for a Child Concession Card that allows free concessionary travel on basic fare bus and train services for children. Prior this adjustment, travel is free only for children up to 0.9m in height and accompanied by fare-paying passenger.
The good news is that polytechnic students will now enjoy the same monthly concession pass prices as secondary, junior college and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students. The polytechnic students will now pay only S$27.50, down from S$52 for their bus concession and S$25 for their train concession pass down from S$45. The price of the hybrid concession pass will also be lowered from S$97 to S$51.
NSF monthly concession passes will be lowered to the same price as students from tertiary institutes.
The daily limit of 4 per day on rides for all train on the hybrid monthly passes will also be removed.
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew commented on the fare increase via his facebook status update, saying that PTC has struck a good balance by keeping the fare increase a few notches below the average wage increase in 2013 while enhancing concessions for a significant segment of commuters like the students, especially the Polytechnic students, NSFs, and providing new products like the unlimited travel monthly passes for senior citizens and for other adults. He believes this will continue to keep public transport affordable for Singaporeans.
He added that the two pilot fare concession schemes funded by the government for low wage workers (LWWs) and persons with disabilities (PWDs) will benefit close to half a million Singaporeans. The 15% discount off adult fares for the LWW will bring the transport fares comporable to fares 10 to 15 years ago, and that would even work out better for PWDs who will get between 25% and over 50% in fare discount.
Netizens have not been kind on words in response to the fare hikes, and have been voicing their opinions on the social media platform of the media outlets which have reported on this news.
Over the past few years, the general public have not been happy over the persistent breakdowns and constant overcrowding of the trasnportation system. The approval of the fare hikes may imply to the public that the transport operators are not penalized for their under-performance and the priority is placed on the operators instead of the commuters.
By Terry Xu
The increase of fares are as follow (source: PTC’s press release)
Bus fares increases
| Fare category | Card fares increase | Percentage of increase | Cash fare increase | Percentage of Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult (Trunk) | 4-6 cents | 3-5.5% | 20 cents | 9.1-18.2% |
| Adult (Feeder) | 4 cents | 5.5% | 20 cents | 18.2% |
| Adult (Express) | 4-6 cents | 2.3-3% | 20 cents | 7.4-10.5% |
| Senior Citizen (Trunk) | 2 cents | 3.4-3.7% | 10 cents | 8.3-11.1% |
| Senior Citizen (Feeder) | 2 cents | 3.7% | 10 cents | 11.1% |
| Senior Citizen (Express) | 2-3 cents | 2-2.2% | N.A | N.A |
| Student (Trunk) | 2 cents | 3.4-5.5% | 10 cents | 13.3 – 18.2% |
| Student (Feeder) | 2 cents | 5.5% | 10 cents | 18.2% |
| Student (Express) | 2 cents | 2.2-3% | N.A | N.A |
Train fares for North East Line, Circle line and Downtown Line
| Fare category | Card fares increase | Percentage of increase | Cash fare increase | Percentage of Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | 4-6 cents | 2.7-5.5% | 20 cents | 8.3-16.6% |
| Senior Citizen | 2-3 cents | 3.3-3.4% | N.A | N.A |
| Students | 2 cents | 3.4-5.5% | N.A | N.A |
Train fares for North-South and East-West Lines, Bukit Panjang LRT, Sengkang LRT and Punggol LRT
| Fare category | Card fares increase | Percentage of increase | Cash fare increase | Percentage of Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | 4-6 cents | 3.1-5.5% | 20 cents | 9.1-18.2% |
| Senior Citizen | 2-3 cents | 3.4-3.7% | N.A | N.A |
| Students | 2 cents | 3.4-5.5% | N.A | N.A |