<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>The latest: Students' fare grouse
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jamie Ee Wen Wei
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Six polytechnic students took to the streets yesterday. Their aim: to eventually collect 100,000 signatures, both online and offline.
They were part of a national petition drive by poly students to get better public transport concessions.
Their efforts yesterday afternoon in Bugis Street garnered 180 signatures in two hours.
The poly students' grouse - given a fillip by the petition drive which first made its rounds in at least five tertiary institutions last Monday - stems from the difference in fares for them and for students from junior colleges (JCs) and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
From their perspective, they are in the same age group as students from JCs and the ITE, who get student passes.
JC and ITE students pay $25 to $52.50 monthly for their concession passes, depending on the mode of travel: train, bus or both.
But tertiary passes - for poly and university students - cost between $45 and $97.
The petition drive, started by Temasek Polytechnic students, calls for the 'tertiary' and 'non-tertiary' distinction to be removed.
'If our proposal is accepted, poly students will pay between $13.75 and $31.40 less for their concession passes,' said Mr Bernard Chen, 23, a Temasek Polytechnic student and one of 10 students leading the campaign.
'University and private educational institution students will also see reductions in their fares,'
In total, the group has gathered about 700 signatures in the past week. An earlier online petition by a former Ngee Ann Polytechnic student garnered over 20,000 signatures while a Facebook group has close to 5,000 members.
Despite earlier online petitions and appeals by MPS as well, transport operators have maintained that any changes made to the existing concessions may adversely impact full fare-paying commuters.
When contacted, TransitLink, which runs the concession schemes for SBS Transit and SMRT, did not say if it would consider the students' petition this time round.
Its spokesman said the public transport operators have tried hard not to increase concession fares.
Mr Chen said his next step is to tally up all signatures, including those from earlier online petitions and the Facebook group. A petition will then be sent to various agencies.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jamie Ee Wen Wei
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Six polytechnic students took to the streets yesterday. Their aim: to eventually collect 100,000 signatures, both online and offline.
They were part of a national petition drive by poly students to get better public transport concessions.
Their efforts yesterday afternoon in Bugis Street garnered 180 signatures in two hours.
The poly students' grouse - given a fillip by the petition drive which first made its rounds in at least five tertiary institutions last Monday - stems from the difference in fares for them and for students from junior colleges (JCs) and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
From their perspective, they are in the same age group as students from JCs and the ITE, who get student passes.
JC and ITE students pay $25 to $52.50 monthly for their concession passes, depending on the mode of travel: train, bus or both.
But tertiary passes - for poly and university students - cost between $45 and $97.
The petition drive, started by Temasek Polytechnic students, calls for the 'tertiary' and 'non-tertiary' distinction to be removed.
'If our proposal is accepted, poly students will pay between $13.75 and $31.40 less for their concession passes,' said Mr Bernard Chen, 23, a Temasek Polytechnic student and one of 10 students leading the campaign.
'University and private educational institution students will also see reductions in their fares,'
In total, the group has gathered about 700 signatures in the past week. An earlier online petition by a former Ngee Ann Polytechnic student garnered over 20,000 signatures while a Facebook group has close to 5,000 members.
Despite earlier online petitions and appeals by MPS as well, transport operators have maintained that any changes made to the existing concessions may adversely impact full fare-paying commuters.
When contacted, TransitLink, which runs the concession schemes for SBS Transit and SMRT, did not say if it would consider the students' petition this time round.
Its spokesman said the public transport operators have tried hard not to increase concession fares.
Mr Chen said his next step is to tally up all signatures, including those from earlier online petitions and the Facebook group. A petition will then be sent to various agencies.
