Public transport fares to rise by 2.9%; hike capped at 5 cents per journey

PUBLIC transport fares will rise by 2.9 per cent from Dec 26, the Public Transport Council (PTC) announced on Wednesday (Oct 12).

With the fare hike, half of Singaporeans will see an increase of S$0.01 for every journey, while the fare increase for adults will be capped at S$0.05 for every journey. The price of the adult monthly travel pass will remain unchanged at S$128.

This comes as the PTC indicated at its 2022 Fare Review Exercise (FRE) that the maximum allowable fare adjustment quantum under the fare formula is 13.5 per cent.

The PTC attributed the impending fare increase to energy prices, which soared 117 per cent from 2020 to 2021, as well as a rise in manpower costs and inflation.

The remaining 10.6 percentage points in allowable fare hikes will be carried over to future FREs after the government’s provision of an additional S$200 million in support for public transport.

The PTC said that the additional subsidy is meant to shield commuters from the brunt of fare increases given current cost-of-living concerns.

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The Government said that lower-wage workers and persons with disabilities will see their concession card fare increases capped at S$0.01 per journey after this year’s FRE. This is in line with the PTC’s decision for student and senior citizen concession card fares.

The PTC noted that the price of all monthly concession passes will also remain unchanged.

In addition, the government will provide further assistance to lower to lower-middle income households for public transport costs.

Resident households with monthly household income per person of not more than S$1,600 will be able to claim 600,000 Public Transport Vouchers worth S$30 each. These vouchers can be used to top up fare cards or buy monthly travel and concession passes.

In a press statement, the PTC noted that public transport ridership has recovered to about 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as at September 2022.

“(The) PTC is currently reviewing effectiveness of the current fare adjustment formula and mechanism, in consideration of the changes in the public transport industry and commuting patterns,” it said, adding that the new fare adjustment formula and mechanism will be applied to the 2023 FRE after the review is completed next year.