How much more, must all these daily costs go up?
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No reason to raise bus and train fares
Aug 03, 2006
The Straits Times
I NOTE with apprehension that SBS Transit and SMRT have applied for
bus- and train-fare hikes.
I don't understand why SMRT and SBS Transit have decided to raise
fares when SMRT registered operating profits of $68.9 million in
2004 and $70 million in 2005 on its bus and MRT services. SBS
Transit, too, enjoyed healthy operating profits, of $52.6 million
(2004) and $57.15 million (2005). Both companies enjoyed operating
margins in excess of 10 per cent in both years.
According to Statistics Singapore, residents in lower-income
households and smaller HDB flats and holding jobs of a lower status
rely more heavily on public transport; 4.8 per cent of working
people with monthly incomes below $2,000 commute to work by car, as
compared to 43.7 per cent of their counterparts earning $8,000 and
above in 2005.
According to Statistics Singapore, working commuters who switch
between MRT and buses take on average 51 minutes to journey to
their destination vis-?-vis 27 minutes for their car-commuting
counterparts.
A fare hike will hit lower-income groups harder, and raise income
inequality as well as inflation.
Although attempts to counteract this have been targeted at the
lowest income groups, there will always be a marginal group that
lies just above the cut-off line for assistance.
A higher income inequality means that while the economy develops,
the lower-income groups do not get a share of the progress.
People in Singapore, a densely populated country, rely heavily on
public transport to commute, leading to less traffic congestion.
The social benefits of having low-priced and efficient public
transport are thus enormous.
Huang Junxiang
