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Free travel for kids: How others fare
Beijing: Children up to 1.2m tall travel on buses for free, up from the previous mark of 1.1m in 2006.
Hong Kong: Children under the age of three can take the city's MTR and buses for free. There are no height limits.
Tokyo: Infants and preschoolers up to five years old ride on trains and buses for free, but this is limited to two preschoolers per fare-paying passenger. Third and subsequent preschoolers with an adult must pay child fares.
Taipei: Children below 1.15m tall and those taller than this but still under six years old can take the Metro and buses for free.
London: Children aged 15 and below get free travel on buses and trams. Those over 16 but under 19 also travel free on buses and trams if they are studying full-time. For trains, those aged 10 or under can also hop on for free. Older children pay child rates. New York: Up to three children who are under 1.12m tall may ride the subway and buses for free if accompanied by a fare-paying adult.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Fare or not? Height of contention
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Parents want transport height limit raised but docs say kids here have not grown much taller </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Yeo Ghim Lay
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Its an end to free bus and train rides once children hit 0.9m. To raise the fare gate sensors above that height will result in huge costs, says TransitLink. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FREELANCE writer Grace Ma, 31, is tracking the height of her 11/2-year-old daughter.
Ariel is now 0.84m tall. Her days of free bus and train rides will end when she grows another 6cm to hit 0.9m.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Free travel for kids: How others fare
Beijing: Children up to 1.2m tall travel on buses for free, up from the previous mark of 1.1m in 2006.
Hong Kong: Children under the age of three can take the city's MTR and buses for free. There are no height limits.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ms Ma, whose four-year-old son hit 0.9m a year ago, feels it is 'unfair' to have to pay transport fares for a toddler.
Children above 0.9m tall but who are still below the age of seven have to pay the child concessionary rate, which ranges from 40 cents to 50 cents; those below this height ride free as long as they are accompanied by a fare-paying passenger.
This 0.9m height limit has parents of tall children crying foul and saying it discriminates against those who are taller than their peers.
Once in a while, parents will agitate for the height limit to be raised, citing anecdotal evidence that children here are growing 'faster'.
But train operators here have indicated that they are not about to budge on the height limit for cost reasons.
And checks with paediatricians have found that children nowadays are not any taller on average.
The 0.9m bar was set in the early 1990s, not long after MRT trains debuted in 1987.
Fare gates built at MRT stations are equipped with sensors to detect passengers passing through, and these sensors are installed 0.9m from the ground.
A child under 0.9m can thus pass through the fare gate safely, followed by a fare-paying passenger, without worrying that the gate will close on him.
TransitLink said a change to the height limit will mean that the sensors will have to be re-installed, which will result in 'huge costs' that can 'adversely impact full fare-paying commuters'.
Among paediatricians who spoke to The Straits Times was Associate Professor Lee Yung Seng of the National University Hospital. He noted that while children may now be taller than they were in the 1970s, their average height has stayed pretty stable in the last decade.
Dr Fabian Yap, head of endocrinology at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, said 0.9m tall children have not been getting younger over the years.
A 1988 study found 0.9m tall girls to be 20 to 40 months old, and 0.9m tall boys, 19 to 39 months old.
A study done 12 years after that, the latest available, put 0.9m tall girls at 21 to 41 months old, and the boys, 20 to 40 months old.
The change over the years is not regarded as significant, said Dr Yap.
Housewife Elsa Tan, 33, whose son, aged two, is already 0.92m tall, thinks the height limit is unrealistic.
'Some of my friends' children are younger than he is but they are already taller,' she said.
She has not been asked to pay transport fares for her son so far, though he is 2cm above the height limit.
Parents expressed surprise when told of the studies on the average height of children here.
Ms Ma said: 'Based on my child's example, I'd think it's anecdotal evidence that children are growing taller these days.
'Perhaps we could just be one of the not so 'fortunate' ones who happen to have taller kids,' she said with a laugh.
Parents like her are still hoping that Singapore will follow the example of Beijing, which raised its height limit for free travel from 1.1m to 1.2m in 2006, on the back of an increase in children's average heights in China.
But MP Cedric Foo, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, cautioned: 'Commuters should bear in mind that increasing the size of any group enjoying concessionary or free fares would mean that full-fare passengers are subsidising more.' [email protected]
Free travel for kids: How others fare
Beijing: Children up to 1.2m tall travel on buses for free, up from the previous mark of 1.1m in 2006.
Hong Kong: Children under the age of three can take the city's MTR and buses for free. There are no height limits.
Tokyo: Infants and preschoolers up to five years old ride on trains and buses for free, but this is limited to two preschoolers per fare-paying passenger. Third and subsequent preschoolers with an adult must pay child fares.
Taipei: Children below 1.15m tall and those taller than this but still under six years old can take the Metro and buses for free.
London: Children aged 15 and below get free travel on buses and trams. Those over 16 but under 19 also travel free on buses and trams if they are studying full-time. For trains, those aged 10 or under can also hop on for free. Older children pay child rates. New York: Up to three children who are under 1.12m tall may ride the subway and buses for free if accompanied by a fare-paying adult.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Fare or not? Height of contention
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Parents want transport height limit raised but docs say kids here have not grown much taller </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Yeo Ghim Lay
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Its an end to free bus and train rides once children hit 0.9m. To raise the fare gate sensors above that height will result in huge costs, says TransitLink. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FREELANCE writer Grace Ma, 31, is tracking the height of her 11/2-year-old daughter.
Ariel is now 0.84m tall. Her days of free bus and train rides will end when she grows another 6cm to hit 0.9m.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Free travel for kids: How others fare
Beijing: Children up to 1.2m tall travel on buses for free, up from the previous mark of 1.1m in 2006.
Hong Kong: Children under the age of three can take the city's MTR and buses for free. There are no height limits.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ms Ma, whose four-year-old son hit 0.9m a year ago, feels it is 'unfair' to have to pay transport fares for a toddler.
Children above 0.9m tall but who are still below the age of seven have to pay the child concessionary rate, which ranges from 40 cents to 50 cents; those below this height ride free as long as they are accompanied by a fare-paying passenger.
This 0.9m height limit has parents of tall children crying foul and saying it discriminates against those who are taller than their peers.
Once in a while, parents will agitate for the height limit to be raised, citing anecdotal evidence that children here are growing 'faster'.
But train operators here have indicated that they are not about to budge on the height limit for cost reasons.
And checks with paediatricians have found that children nowadays are not any taller on average.
The 0.9m bar was set in the early 1990s, not long after MRT trains debuted in 1987.
Fare gates built at MRT stations are equipped with sensors to detect passengers passing through, and these sensors are installed 0.9m from the ground.
A child under 0.9m can thus pass through the fare gate safely, followed by a fare-paying passenger, without worrying that the gate will close on him.
TransitLink said a change to the height limit will mean that the sensors will have to be re-installed, which will result in 'huge costs' that can 'adversely impact full fare-paying commuters'.
Among paediatricians who spoke to The Straits Times was Associate Professor Lee Yung Seng of the National University Hospital. He noted that while children may now be taller than they were in the 1970s, their average height has stayed pretty stable in the last decade.
Dr Fabian Yap, head of endocrinology at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, said 0.9m tall children have not been getting younger over the years.
A 1988 study found 0.9m tall girls to be 20 to 40 months old, and 0.9m tall boys, 19 to 39 months old.
A study done 12 years after that, the latest available, put 0.9m tall girls at 21 to 41 months old, and the boys, 20 to 40 months old.
The change over the years is not regarded as significant, said Dr Yap.
Housewife Elsa Tan, 33, whose son, aged two, is already 0.92m tall, thinks the height limit is unrealistic.
'Some of my friends' children are younger than he is but they are already taller,' she said.
She has not been asked to pay transport fares for her son so far, though he is 2cm above the height limit.
Parents expressed surprise when told of the studies on the average height of children here.
Ms Ma said: 'Based on my child's example, I'd think it's anecdotal evidence that children are growing taller these days.
'Perhaps we could just be one of the not so 'fortunate' ones who happen to have taller kids,' she said with a laugh.
Parents like her are still hoping that Singapore will follow the example of Beijing, which raised its height limit for free travel from 1.1m to 1.2m in 2006, on the back of an increase in children's average heights in China.
But MP Cedric Foo, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, cautioned: 'Commuters should bear in mind that increasing the size of any group enjoying concessionary or free fares would mean that full-fare passengers are subsidising more.' [email protected]
