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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