Public transport fares will fall by 4.6 per cent, said the Public Transport Council (PTC) yesterday (19 Feb). This is the first cut in the council’s 22-year history.
The fare cuts come from transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT deciding to pass on savings from the Budget to commuters, as well as the ongoing transition to distance-based fares.
All adult EZ-Link fares for buses and trains will enjoy a reduction of 2 cents per trip, across all fare bands. As for child/student concession EZ-Link fares, these will be reduced by 1 cent per trip, across all fare bands.
The transfer rebate for all adult and senior citizen concession EZ-Link journeys will be increased by 10 cents, to 50 cents, from 1 April 2009. It will go up to about 60 cents next year. The existing 10-cent transfer rebate for child/student concession EZ-Link fares will remain unchanged. Commuters who make transfers will save 14 cents for journeys with one transfer, up to a maximum of 38 cents for three transfers.
In addition to the fare adjustments, the pricing on all monthly concession passes will be reduced by between S$1 and S$4. The monthly primary and secondary student bus and train concession passes will drop by S$1, while the student hybrid concession passes will be reduced by S$2. For tertiary students and National Service-men, their monthly bus and train concession passes will be lowered by S$2, while the hybrid concession passes will see a S$4 reduction.
There is no change to all cash fares for buses and single-trip ticket fares for trains.
The PTC said the 4.6 per cent fare reduction package, which stretches over a 15-month period (from 1 April 2009 to 30 June 2010), will cost public transport operators about S$80 million. It comprises a fare rebate of S$52 million, of which about S$37 million are the savings from the Government Budget measures that the transport operators are passing on to commuters. Another S$28 million is the amount over a 15-month period to fund the transfer rebate increase.
The PTC said the public transport operators decided to bear a larger share (two-thirds) of the cost of this year’s 10-cent increase in transfer rebate to benefit commuters. The move translates into a permanent revenue loss of S$22 million per year for transport operators.
Traditionally, the companies apply for fare changes by August and the new fares start in October. But the PTC brought forward this year’s exercise.
From next year, the deadline to apply for fare changes will be moved to May and new fares will take effect in July.
As fares are being lowered earlier this year, the Government will not give public transport vouchers to the needy, unlike in previous fare revision exercises.
A day after announcements that bus and train fares will go down by 2 cents, SBS Transit and SMRT said they would also be cutting fares for their non-basic bus services by up to 20 cents. The reduced fares will last for 15 months from April 1 this year to June 30 next year. SMRT said its measures, including a S$300,000 donation to help needy consumers with their transport costs, will cost the company S$37.3 million.
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The PAP regime is starting to make their moves to set the stage for the coming elections.
Yes yes, everything the PAP does either bad or just for propagandas sake, we get it already