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SINGAPORE: Bus and train fares will go up by 7 per cent from Dec 28, the Public Transport Council (PTC) announced on Tuesday (Oct 8), the maximum allowable increase under this year’s fare review exercise.
This will translate into an increase of 9 cents per journey for adult commuters who use travel cards. They make up about 65 per cent of all public transport trips here.
Those using cash on buses, or who purchase single-trip tickets for train rides, will see a steeper increase of 20 cents per trip.
The cost of monthly concession passes will go up by between S$1 and S$5.50, while the price of adult monthly travel passes will go up by S$8.
Concession groups - such as students, senior citizens and those with disabilities - will pay 4 cents more per journey. About two million commuters - or more than one in two Singaporeans - enjoy concessionary fares, said the PTC.
Full-time polytechnic and diploma students, however, will see a drop in their cost of commute.
They currently pay adult fares but will have student concessions extended to them, allowing them to save up to S$1.54 per trip.
In a Facebook post, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that in any fare adjustment, the Government tries to keep the increase "as low as possible" so it affects as few people as it can.
"Fortunately, more than half of Singaporeans receive substantial discounts from the normal fare of up to 70 per cent. This includes students, senior commuters and Workfare recipients," he said.
Mr Khaw also noted that the PTC's move to cap the fare increase to no more than 4 cents for concession groups protects the interest of "two million or so" commuters.
"With this, their fares on average are not higher than 2015 levels," he added.
The increases are based on the current fare adjustment formula, which came into effect last year and takes into account factors such as energy prices and inflation.
VOUCHERS FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS
To further help lower-income households, the PTC will have both SMRT Trains and SBS Transit contribute about S$3.89 million to the Public Transport Fund - more than double last year's amount.
Of this, S$1.88 million will come from SBS Transit, while S$2.01 million will come from SMRT. This represents 5 per cent and 10 per cent of their expected increase in fare revenues respectively, said PTC.
It will allow 450,000 public transport vouchers to be made available to help lower-income households cope with the fare increase.
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/mrt-train-bus-fare-review-ptc-11981384
