No fare increase for more than 1.1 million commuters

Lower-Wage Workers, Persons with Disabilities, Senior Citizens,
Young Children and Commuters using Monthly Concession Passes Shielded

Public Transport Operators to Contribute
$13.5 million to Public Transport Fund 

The Public Transport Council (PTC) has concluded the 2014 Fare Review Exercise. Guided by the fare adjustment formula and fare review mechanism from the Fare Review Mechanism Committee, the PTC decided to grant an overall net fare adjustment of 2.8%. This is the combined fare adjustment aggregated from the 3.4% carried over from the 2013 Fare Review Exercise, and the 2014 fare adjustment quantum which is -0.6%2. Central to the PTC’s recommendations is the principle that fares should be kept affordable for lower income households while ensuring the viability and sustainability of the public transport system.

2. The PTC has also decided to freeze senior citizen fares and the prices of existing travel concession passes, noting that the Government has decided to do likewise for the two Government-funded schemes for Lower-Wage Workers and Persons with Disabilities. In total, more than 1.1 million commuters will see their fares unchanged.

3. From 5 April 2015, adult card fares for buses and trains will increase by 2 to 5 cents while student concessionary fares will increase by 1 cent. The prices of all monthly concession passes for adults, national servicemen, senior citizens and students will remain the same.

4. Cash fares for adult bus and train rides will increase by 10 cents, while senior citizen and student cash fares will remain unchanged. Commuters are strongly encouraged to use contactless smart cards, instead of paying cash fares, to enjoy lower fares for travel on public transport.

5. The PTC is also pleased to note that the Government will be introducing new offpeak travel passes for adults, Persons with Disabilities and senior citizens. These monthly passes will allow commuters who travel frequently during off-peak periods to save on their travel expenditures.

Approved Fare Adjustment Tables

6. The approved bus and train fares, which will take effect on 5 April 2015, are set out in Annex A.

Ensuring Fare Affordability

7. Bus and train fares continue to be affordable, even for lower income groups, as household income growth has generally outpaced household expenditure in public transport. In 2013, the second quintile and second decile households spent 2.2% and 3.1% of their monthly income on public transport, down from 3.2% and 4.6% in 2003. In fact, the proportion of their monthly income spent on public transport has been on a consistent downward trend since 2003.

8. Nevertheless, we will need to ensure that help continues to be available for needy commuters. As part of the fare review exercise, the two public transport operators will be required to contribute a portion of the increased fare revenue to the Public Transport Fund. Having considered their financial positions, the PTC decided that SBS Transit and SMRT should respectively contribute $5.5 million and $8.0 million of the increased fare revenueto the Public Transport Fund for this exercise, or a total of $13.5 million. This is $2 million more than their contribution last year. The PTC notes that the Government will utilise the  Public Transport Fund to provide Public Transport Vouchers to lower-income households to mitigate the increase in their travel expenditure.

9. Mr Richard Magnus, Chairman of the PTC said,
“In approving the fare increase and deciding on the quantum, the Council made a concerted effort to minimise the impact on commuters, even to the extent of insulating some from the increase altogether. Overall, the fare adjustments for the 2014 fare exercise are lower than last year's adjustments. 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.”

10. More details of PTC’s considerations for the 2014 Fare Review Exercise and highlights of the operators’ applications are contained in the attached Fact Sheet.

For enquiries, please contact:
Agnes Ng, Deputy Head (Corporate Communications and Management)
Tel: 6354 9025
E-mail: ptc_office@ptc.gov.sg
Fax no: 6258 5463 

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