The new fare changes are welcome by one and all. As a shareholder, I am not happy 
Commuters generally welcome bus, train fare changesBy Hoe Yeen Nie/Greta Georges Habib, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 September 2008 0017 hrs
SINGAPORE: Public response to the forthcoming public transport fare adjustments has generally been positive.
While commuters welcomed the higher rebates for transfers to get to their destinations, some said they would not mind paying more for direct journeys as transfers are too troublesome.
"I don't really like taking multiple trips, because it wastes a lot of time. So I'd rather pay a few cents more, take a direct trip," said a commuter.
Concession fares for children and students will remain the same, as will the cost of monthly passes for students and National Servicemen. As for senior citizens, concession hours on weekdays have been extended to include the evening rush hour for train services run by SMRT.
"Sometimes, we go and visit our son, no need to rush to come back. Save money also," said an old man.
The government and transport operators, SBS Transit and SMRT Corp, are spending over S$5m to help low income families cope with the fare hike. They have jointly set aside S$5.2 million to fund an additional 130,000 public transport vouchers for low-income families.
A transport analyst said that removing the transfer penalty is an important step towards a hub-and-spoke transport system. But the issue is how to split the cost between operators and commuters.
"There's always some sharing of the burden, and there'll be winners and losers. All of these numbers are relatively small, so the winners are not big winners, and the losers are not big losers," said Professor Paul Barter from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
He noted that this year's inflation numbers will likely factor into next year's fare review.
Prof Barter said: "One feature of the formula is that the inflation that is put into the formula is last year's inflation. So we see that the fare increase that was allowed this year is only 3 per cent, and in actual fact the Public Transport Council has only allowed 0.7 per cent on average.
"Because inflation has been higher this year, we would anticipate that next year the formula may allow for a higher increase." However he added that the burden of increase on commuters is likely to remain low.
- CNA/ir
Commuters generally welcome bus, train fare changesBy Hoe Yeen Nie/Greta Georges Habib, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 September 2008 0017 hrs
SINGAPORE: Public response to the forthcoming public transport fare adjustments has generally been positive.
While commuters welcomed the higher rebates for transfers to get to their destinations, some said they would not mind paying more for direct journeys as transfers are too troublesome.
"I don't really like taking multiple trips, because it wastes a lot of time. So I'd rather pay a few cents more, take a direct trip," said a commuter.
Concession fares for children and students will remain the same, as will the cost of monthly passes for students and National Servicemen. As for senior citizens, concession hours on weekdays have been extended to include the evening rush hour for train services run by SMRT.
"Sometimes, we go and visit our son, no need to rush to come back. Save money also," said an old man.
The government and transport operators, SBS Transit and SMRT Corp, are spending over S$5m to help low income families cope with the fare hike. They have jointly set aside S$5.2 million to fund an additional 130,000 public transport vouchers for low-income families.
A transport analyst said that removing the transfer penalty is an important step towards a hub-and-spoke transport system. But the issue is how to split the cost between operators and commuters.
"There's always some sharing of the burden, and there'll be winners and losers. All of these numbers are relatively small, so the winners are not big winners, and the losers are not big losers," said Professor Paul Barter from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
He noted that this year's inflation numbers will likely factor into next year's fare review.
Prof Barter said: "One feature of the formula is that the inflation that is put into the formula is last year's inflation. So we see that the fare increase that was allowed this year is only 3 per cent, and in actual fact the Public Transport Council has only allowed 0.7 per cent on average.
"Because inflation has been higher this year, we would anticipate that next year the formula may allow for a higher increase." However he added that the burden of increase on commuters is likely to remain low.
- CNA/ir
