Singapore's public- transport fare increases over the last few years have been lower than those in cities such as Hong Kong and London, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.
He added that, in fact, fares here are "generally comparable and, in many instances, generally lower" than in those cities.
He said this in response to questions posed by Members of Parliament, who asked whether it is necessary to raise fares here.
A document distributed to the House showed that Singapore increased its bus and rail fares by 1 per cent in 2011.
This compares with Hong Kong's 3.2 to 3.6 per cent increase in bus fares and 2.2 per cent in rail fares that year. In the same period, London increased its bus and rail fares by 6.8 per cent.
The document also showed that the average fare for a combined bus-and-rail journey over a distance of 10km is $1.30 here. This is lower than the $2.04 in Hong Kong, $4.75 in London, and $3.48 in Tokyo.
Mr Lui said that from 2006 to 2011, fares here increased cumulatively by 0.3 per cent. But diesel prices went up by 55 per cent and national wages by over 25 per cent over the same period.
This has caused a significant shortfall between fare increases and operating-cost increases, and put downward pressure on wages for public-transport employees, he noted.
He said: "While the PTOs have increased bus drivers' salaries recently, against the backdrop of worsening bus-industry financials, I expect that, going forward, it will be a challenge for the PTOs to do more without fare increases or government subsidy."
Mr Lui also stressed that while the Government "does not dictate or prescribe how much the operators have to pay to their drivers", it holds them accountable for the services delivered to the public.
He said the salary adjustment given to bus drivers last year "is probably not sufficient", and the Government "hopes to do more in the years to come", not only for drivers but also for those involved in maintenance and technical support.
He also reassured the House that penalties on operators will not be drawn from commuter fares. He explained that when the Public Transport Committee looks at fare adjustments, "there is no component in the fare formula that looks at the fines paid to the regulator".
He said: "So that is not taken into consideration for any fare increase."
Mr Lui also stood by the current public-transport model, which he said is most cost-efficient.
Transport operators have incentives to keep costs down and improve productivity, and also to develop new revenue sources to remain financially viable, he said. Restricting their profit-making ability would cause them to have less incentive to do this, he added.
He pointed out that for many cities operating nationalised transport systems, fares tend to be higher. On top of that, there are government subsidies, which is "a heavy burden on the state and ultimately on the taxpayers".
He is not ruling out other options, such as having a co-operative operate some public bus services in the interest of "bus contestability".
"We are always on the lookout for other possibilities...If there are interested entities like NTUC who may perhaps offer to run part of the bus system...this is certainly something we will be prepared to look at very, very carefully."
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He added that, in fact, fares here are "generally comparable and, in many instances, generally lower" than in those cities.
He said this in response to questions posed by Members of Parliament, who asked whether it is necessary to raise fares here.
A document distributed to the House showed that Singapore increased its bus and rail fares by 1 per cent in 2011.
This compares with Hong Kong's 3.2 to 3.6 per cent increase in bus fares and 2.2 per cent in rail fares that year. In the same period, London increased its bus and rail fares by 6.8 per cent.
The document also showed that the average fare for a combined bus-and-rail journey over a distance of 10km is $1.30 here. This is lower than the $2.04 in Hong Kong, $4.75 in London, and $3.48 in Tokyo.
Mr Lui said that from 2006 to 2011, fares here increased cumulatively by 0.3 per cent. But diesel prices went up by 55 per cent and national wages by over 25 per cent over the same period.
This has caused a significant shortfall between fare increases and operating-cost increases, and put downward pressure on wages for public-transport employees, he noted.
He said: "While the PTOs have increased bus drivers' salaries recently, against the backdrop of worsening bus-industry financials, I expect that, going forward, it will be a challenge for the PTOs to do more without fare increases or government subsidy."
Mr Lui also stressed that while the Government "does not dictate or prescribe how much the operators have to pay to their drivers", it holds them accountable for the services delivered to the public.
He said the salary adjustment given to bus drivers last year "is probably not sufficient", and the Government "hopes to do more in the years to come", not only for drivers but also for those involved in maintenance and technical support.
He also reassured the House that penalties on operators will not be drawn from commuter fares. He explained that when the Public Transport Committee looks at fare adjustments, "there is no component in the fare formula that looks at the fines paid to the regulator".
He said: "So that is not taken into consideration for any fare increase."
Mr Lui also stood by the current public-transport model, which he said is most cost-efficient.
Transport operators have incentives to keep costs down and improve productivity, and also to develop new revenue sources to remain financially viable, he said. Restricting their profit-making ability would cause them to have less incentive to do this, he added.
He pointed out that for many cities operating nationalised transport systems, fares tend to be higher. On top of that, there are government subsidies, which is "a heavy burden on the state and ultimately on the taxpayers".
He is not ruling out other options, such as having a co-operative operate some public bus services in the interest of "bus contestability".
"We are always on the lookout for other possibilities...If there are interested entities like NTUC who may perhaps offer to run part of the bus system...this is certainly something we will be prepared to look at very, very carefully."
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