SINGAPORE - Bus and train fares for adults will increase by two to five cents per trip starting April 5, the Public Transport Council (PTC) said in a statement today.
Student concessionary fares will also increase by one cent.
Prices of all monthly concession passes for adults, national servicemen, senior citizens and students will remain the same. Lower-wage workers and people with disabilities, who currently benefit from Government-funded schemes, will also not be affected by the fare hike.
The two public transport operators, SBS Transit and SMRT, will be required to contribute $5.5 million and $8 million respectively of the increased fare revenue to the Public Transport Fund. This amounts to a total of $13.5 million, $2 million more than their contribution last year.
The Government will draw $7.5 million from the Public Transport Fund to provide 250,000 Public Transport Vouchers to lower-income households to help them cope with the fare adjustment.
Similar to last year, each Public Transport Voucher is worth $30 and can be used to purchase or top up fare cards or buy monthly concession passes. The vouchers will be distributed throughout the year.
Application for the vouchers starts from March 16.
PTC chairman Richard Magnus said: "I am always very concerned not only with making transport fares affordable, but making sure that our low income families who need more assistance will be looked after. The contributions to the Public Transport Fund by the operators will help defray the travel expenditure of these needy families."
He noted that this year's fare adjustments are lower than last year's, and that the PTC made a "concerted effort" to minimise the impact on commuters, even to the extent of insulating some from the increase altogether.
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