Transport fare changes for the social good

THE public transport fare changes announced in Parliament earlier this week should cause many Singaporeans to sit up and take notice as they were influenced by social factors as much as, if not more than, economic considerations.

For one thing, there was a strong direction that the next fare review exercise, in the first half of 2014, would probably result in an increase in fares for most public transport commuters in Singapore. After a two-year pause in fare adjustments, commuters will have to get used to higher fares. Moreover, it was revealed in Parliament that the projected fare increase next year may be bigger than usual for full-fare paying commuters. This is in part to make up for the stagnant fares in the last two years, as well as due to enhanced benefits for tertiary students and pre-schoolers, among other groups.

Fortunately for full-fare paying commuters, the fee hike next year is likely to be capped at the average of this year's wage rise. The remainder of this will be rolled over to 2015. This cap is aimed at making the fare increase manageable for full-fare paying consumers and not eat into their real incomes.