Public transport card fares for adults to go up by 10 cents from Dec 28

ADULT card fares for public transport users will increase by 10 cents per journey, while fares for concession-card users will go up by 4 cents from Dec 28 this year.

The increase in fares for these cards, which are used on public buses and trains, is based on this year’s fare-review exercise by the Public Transport Council (PTC). The council said in a statement on Monday (Sep 9) that it will grant an overall fare increase of 6 per cent for this year.

The figure is less than a third of the 18.9 per cent maximum allowable quantum for fare adjustments this year. The maximum allowable quantum is derived from the output of this year’s fare-adjustment formula (3.3 per cent) as well as the deferred-fare quantum from previous years’ exercises (15.6 per cent), said PTC.

This year’s fare-adjustment formula of 3.3 per cent was driven by core inflation and wage growth in 2023, and partially moderated by a decrease in energy prices from a peak in 2022, said PTC.

The overall fare increase of 6 per cent for this year is intended to cushion commuters from a full fare increase. To help concession groups, PTC has allowed for a lower increase of 4 cents per journey for concession card fares, which will benefit about two million holders of such cards.

Concession card users comprise students, seniors, national servicemen, persons with disabilities and those on the Workfare Transport Concession Scheme.

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There will be no increase to the prices of monthly passes, to help heavy users of public transport cap their public transport expenses, said PTC.

The government is providing an additional subsidy of about S$250 million this coming year to cover the deferred fare adjustment quantum. This is on top of the annual S$2 billion in operating subsidies provided for public transport, and the additional funding of up to S$900 million over eight years for the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme.

“The additional government subsidy will help to moderate the fare increase, while still accounting for the higher costs of providing public transport,” said PTC.

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Concession period extended for graduating students

Graduating students eligible for concessionary fares will continue enjoying these fares for four months upon the end of their course of study.

The extension starts with graduating students whose concession eligibility ends on or after Dec 28, 2024. It will also be extended to graduating students – those who are in between two education stages, such as N-level and O-Levels and who are enrolling in the Institute of Technical Education or polytechnics, and those transitioning out of student concession benefits, such as junior college students who may be headed to university. This will help students and their families manage the transition out of or between concession schemes, said PTC.

The change comes after Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat asked the PTC earlier this year to consider extending the concession period for graduating students, following feedback from parents and students.

Currently, students in secondary schools, Institutes of Technical Education, junior colleges, polytechnics and other government or government-aided tertiary institutions pursuing a diploma, and those enrolled in eligible private educational institution courses pay student concessionary fares when travelling on public transport.

When they graduate, some may have to pay adult fares until they enrol in another school and again become eligible for concessionary fares.

 Around 75,000 graduating students are expected to benefit from the extension of the concessionary period every year.

To extend the validity of their concessionary cards this year, eligible graduating students just need to tap their existing concessionary card at any ticketing machine in MRT stations and bus interchanges, or visit a ticketing counter from Oct 1.

Transport vouchers for lower-income households

To cope with the increase in fares, eligible lower-income households will receive Public Transport Vouchers worth S$60. The vouchers can be used to top up fare cards or buy monthly passes.

This year’s voucher amount is higher than the S$50 provided last year, following the fare-review exercise.

The government will also raise the income eligibility criterion for Public Transport Vouchers.

Resident households with a monthly household income of up to S$1,800 per person can qualify for the vouchers, up from a maximum of S$1,600 per person previously. This revision will allow an additional 60,000 households to qualify for the latest round of vouchers.

The vouchers are partially funded by the Public Transport Fund, to which public transport operators contribute when there are fare increases.

The PTC announced that this year, SBS Transit Rail will be required to contribute 15 per cent of the expected increase in its revenue, or S$3.05 million, while SMRT Trains will have to contribute 25 per cent, or S$9.96 million, to the fund.