Singapore – Starting December 29, adult EZ-Link card users taking the bus or train will be charged an additional 6 cents per trip. For those who purchase a single trip ticket for the train or take the bus and pay in cash will experience an increase of 10 cents. The increase for students and senior citizens will be limited to 1 cent.
Through a Facebook post on October 30, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan justified that the 4.3% increase in public transportation fees was an unavoidable decision given the fact that fare reductions amounting to 8.3% have been implemented the past 3 years. He emphasizes the Public Transport Council’s fair and balanced decision-making which considers the interests of the commuters and the transport operators. He adds that it is only reasonable that “commuters do not welcome fare increases; [but] operators need fare adjustments to keep pace with their operating costs.”
His complete post can be read below:
https://www.facebook.com/ministerkhawboonwan/photos/a.436446466414579/2063934050332471/?type=3
The PTC explained in a press release back in October 30 that there was a need to review fare rates because of changes such as energy prices having gone up by 26.2%, wage index increasing by 3% and the core consumer price index experiencing an increase of 1.5%. The SMRT and SBS Transit have incurred losses due to these changes.
Raising transportation fares is a method that other cities are implementing to keep up with rising operating costs.
Mixed emotions
As painful to the wallet it may be, there is a healthy number of netizens who understand need to increase fees. Denise Grae-Tan, with her comment, is one of those people.
Meanwhile, Aman Avtar S Sandhu and Thomas Andrew do not see the connection of rising costs with increasing fees because fuel prices just went down.
Wang ZL has given a sound alternative that could be taken by commuters.
Others are concerned about the overall effects of hiking the fees to a standard commuter.
