The trains are too crowded.
Commuters in north-east S’pore to get more incentives from Jan 2 to avoid morning peak
The Travel Smart Journeys incentive scheme will cover four more express bus services, bringing the total to 11.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Kok Yufeng
Dec 26, 2024
SINGAPORE – A scheme to encourage public transport users in north-eastern Singapore to change their travel patterns to ease peak-hour train congestion will be expanded from Jan 2.
Those who take selected express bus services instead of the train will get more rebates on their fares on weekday mornings. For the first time, the rebates, which are up to 80 per cent of the fare, will also be extended to train journeys.
These apply when eligible rail passengers from the north-east shift their morning commutes to avoid the most crowded period between 7.15am and 8.45am.
Four more express bus services will be added to the list, bringing the total to 11.
These additional express routes are City Direct Services (CDS) 675, 676, 677 and 678, which will all begin operations on Jan 2.
The programme will also cover CDS 660M, a variant of the existing CDS 660 express route.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Dec 20 that the initiative is aimed at encouraging passengers to avoid busier segments of the MRT network during the morning rush.
It is an enhancement of the Travel Smart Journeys (TSJ) programme, which awards points to eligible participants. These points can be redeemed for credit.
To help ease the load on the congested North East Line (NEL), the programme was launched in 2020 as a trial and expanded in 2023. It was temporarily suspended on Nov 25 to facilitate systems upgrades.
Before the suspension, there were about 21,400 eligible TSJ participants, with about 1,240 commuters benefiting from rebates totalling $66,000 between March 2023 and November 2024.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, LTA said the cost of the enhanced TSJ scheme, which is government-funded, depends on the take-up. The scheme will not contribute to future fare increases, the authority added.
The biggest change will be the addition of train journeys to the programme: Passengers who start their commutes from Punggol Coast, Punggol, Sengkang, Buangkok or Hougang MRT stations, or any station on the Punggol and Sengkang LRT lines, are eligible for discounts too.
While the focus is now on the north-eastern region, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat had left the door open for the programme to be expanded to other rail lines in future.
He said
during a media interview in early December that the goal is to distribute peak demand on buses and the MRT to help manage crowding and the capacity needed.
In the first half of 2024, the NEL had an average daily ridership of 588,000 passenger trips, 2.2 per cent shy of the 601,000 daily trips made on the line in 2019.
Eligibility for Travel Smart Journeys
To be eligible for the TSJ incentives, passengers must have tapped in at any NEL station between Punggol Coast and Hougang, or any station along the Punggol and Sengkang LRT lines, between 7.15am and 8.45am on at least six working weekdays in the past 30 calendar days.
This is to prove that they regularly travel on these rail lines during the morning peak period.
Asked for the rationale behind this, LTA said TSJ is a targeted scheme, and is not meant to incentivise those already travelling outside the morning peak, or encourage those who travel later in the day to bring their journeys forward.
LTA said using a points system, rather than upfront discounts, is in line with the objective of encouraging consistent, long-term shifts in travel patterns.
This also gives the authority greater flexibility to introduce tailored incentives for other parts of the public transport network in the future.
Active participants of the previous iteration of the TSJ programme will automatically be enrolled in the upgraded scheme from Jan 2.
Inactive users – those who have not earned any TSJ points in the last six months – will receive an e-mail invitation to re-register, but they will need to be eligible to earn points.
LTA said that the initiative is aimed at encouraging passengers to avoid busier segments of the MRT network during the morning rush.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
For those not on the scheme yet, they can register for it using the SimplyGo app and add a travel card to their SimplyGo account.
They will then need to nominate a travel card that will be used to check their eligibility, which will be determined within 72 hours, LTA said.
Once enrolled, participants will be able to see how many points they have earned through a revamped dashboard within the SimplyGo app. The accumulated points can then be redeemed in blocks of 500, with the credit going towards the travel card of the passenger’s choosing.
How to calculate discounts under enhanced scheme
Under the scheme’s earlier format, participants who used eligible express bus services on weekday mornings were awarded points worth $1.50 per trip.
From Jan 2, this will increase to 80 per cent of the journey fare.
In the case of an adult passenger who takes CDS 666 instead of the train from Damai LRT station to Promenade MRT station, he will get an effective fare discount of $2.37 under the upgraded scheme.
For eligible commuters who continue to take the train, they will either get a 40 per cent or 80 per cent rebate on their fares, depending on when they travel.
This is on top of an existing discount of up to 50 cents that is given to those who tap in at MRT stations islandwide before 7.45am on weekdays.
For instance, an adult train passenger who taps in at Sengkang station on a weekday morning and exits at Raffles Place station would normally pay a fare of $1.93.
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With the new incentive, if he makes the same MRT journey before 7.15am, he will get an upfront discount of 50 cents plus 114 TSJ points, which are equivalent to $1.14 or 80 per cent of the fare after the 50-cent discount.
If the same passenger taps in after 7.15am but before 7.45am, he will still get an upfront discount of 50 cents, but no points.
If he makes the journey between 9am and 9.30am, there is no upfront fare discount, but he will receive 154 points (80 per cent of $1.93), effectively bringing the fare down to 39 cents.
For the periods between 8.45am and 9am, and between 9.30am and 9.45am, the points received will be 40 per cent of the fare, which, in this example, is 77 points. Those who travel after 9.45am will pay the regular full fare.
LTA said: “By offering a smaller discount before and after the main incentive period between 9am and 9.30am, commuters do not have to rush or deliberately delay their journeys, which may cause crowding and reduce the effectiveness of the programme.”
