Commuters in Singapore will see an increase in public transport fares starting December 27th, following an announcement made by the Public Transport Council on Tuesday, October 14th. The overall adjustment is set at 5 percent, a figure lower than the previous year's increase.
For adult commuters using travel cards, this translates to an additional nine to ten cents per journey. The council highlighted that a significant number of concessionary journeys, over 450,000 trips made primarily by students and seniors traveling to schools, workplaces, or local amenities, cover distances of 3.2 kilometers or less and will not be affected by the main increase. For longer concessionary journeys beyond this distance, fares will rise by three to four cents.
Cash fares will also see an adjustment, reflecting the higher operational costs associated with handling physical currency. Adult cash fares will increase by twenty cents, while seniors and persons with disabilities will see a ten-cent rise, and student cash fares will go up by five cents. The council noted that less than one percent of all trips are paid for with cash, with the last adjustment for these fares occurring in 2023.
During a press conference, Janet Ang, the Chairperson of the Public Transport Council, explained the necessity of the increase. She stated that the council must balance keeping fares affordable for the system's over seven million daily riders with other critical factors. These considerations include ensuring fair wages for public transport workers, covering the rising costs of network operations and maintenance, and funding future expansions and accessibility improvements. Ang acknowledged the challenges fare adjustments pose, especially in an uncertain economic climate, and noted that the council has consistently not implemented the maximum allowable fare increase in recent years.
In a significant change to its review process, the Public Transport Council announced it is shifting the data period used to calculate annual fare adjustments. Previously based on economic data from January to December of the prior year, the council will now use a July-to-June reference period. This change, to be implemented from the next review cycle, aims to reduce the time lag between cost changes for operators and the subsequent fare adjustment by six months. To facilitate this transition, the current review incorporates data from an 18-month period from January 2024 to June of this year.
For the first time since 2010, express bus service surcharges will also increase. Due to the higher operational costs, which are about one and a half times that of basic services, the fare difference for express services will rise by forty cents for adults and twenty cents for concession cardholders. The cash fare for express buses will increase by sixty cents.
To help mitigate the impact of these increases, the prices for monthly travel passes for adults and seniors will be reduced by up to five percent. Furthermore, the government will provide sixty dollars in Public Transport Vouchers to eligible lower-income households, a measure unchanged from the previous year. Transport operators SBS Transit Rail and SMRT Trains will contribute a combined 10.65 million dollars to the Public Transport Fund to support these vouchers. The government will also provide an additional subsidy of over 200 million dollars the following year to help moderate the fare increase while covering the rising costs of providing public transport services.
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