http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_567244.html
Aug 17, 2010
Operators bear $88m a year
<!-- by line -->By Rachel Lin
PUBLIC transport operators are projected to forgo $88 million in revenue a year with distance-based fares, compared to earnings under the previous fare regime, Transport Minister Raymond Lim told Parliament on Monday.
This is because the Public Transport Council (PTC) has assigned them 'the lion's share', or two-thirds, of the costs of moving to the new fare scheme, he said.
For the remainder of the cost, he said the PTC 'had the unenviable task of distributing it among the various commuter groups'.
The PTC had earlier projected a revenue reduction of $32 million for the remaining months of this year, as a result of the new fare system. The combined annual revenues of the two transport operators, SMRT and SBS Transit, average $1.5 billion yearly.
Mr Lim was responding to a question from MP Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC), on the unhappiness over the introduction of distance fares.
Dr Lim, who is also chairman of the Government Parlimentary Committee on Transport, was one of several MPs who posed a barrage of questions on the new fare regime, which has proven controversial since it was implemented last month.
Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
Aug 17, 2010
Operators bear $88m a year
<!-- by line -->By Rachel Lin
PUBLIC transport operators are projected to forgo $88 million in revenue a year with distance-based fares, compared to earnings under the previous fare regime, Transport Minister Raymond Lim told Parliament on Monday.
This is because the Public Transport Council (PTC) has assigned them 'the lion's share', or two-thirds, of the costs of moving to the new fare scheme, he said.
For the remainder of the cost, he said the PTC 'had the unenviable task of distributing it among the various commuter groups'.
The PTC had earlier projected a revenue reduction of $32 million for the remaining months of this year, as a result of the new fare system. The combined annual revenues of the two transport operators, SMRT and SBS Transit, average $1.5 billion yearly.
Mr Lim was responding to a question from MP Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC), on the unhappiness over the introduction of distance fares.
Dr Lim, who is also chairman of the Government Parlimentary Committee on Transport, was one of several MPs who posed a barrage of questions on the new fare regime, which has proven controversial since it was implemented last month.
Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
