Bus and train fares up 4-6 cents from April 6

Adult card fares for buses and trains will increase by 4 to 6 cents per journey starting 6 April.

In addition, the government is introducing concession schemes for low-income workers and persons with disabilities.

Low-income workers will enjoy a 15-per cent discount off adult fares, and persons with disabilities will get 25-per cent discount.

Persons with disabilities will also not have to pay additional fares for distances beyond 7.2 kilometres.

About 400,000 low-wage workers and 50,000 persons with disabilities are expected to benefit from the two concession schemes in the first year.

The new schemes will start on 6 July and will cost the government about S$50 million annually.

Interim financial assistance will be provided to eligible low-wage workers and persons with disabilities to help defray the increase in their travel expenditure over three months from the implementation of the revised fares.

Eligible low-wage workers will be issued S$30 transport vouchers, and persons with disabilities will receive S$80.

The Public Transport Council will also introduce a new monthly unlimited travel pass for adult Singaporeans and permanent residents, priced at S$120.

There will also be a S$60 new monthly unlimited travel concession pass for senior citizens.

Children under the age of seven will get free travel.

Polytechnic students will enjoy the same monthly concession pass prices as secondary, junior college and Institute of Technical Education students.

Prices for polytechnic monthly concession passes will be brought down. The bus concession pass price will be S$27.50, down from S$52. The train concession pass will be priced at S$25, down from S$45. The price of the hybrid concession pass will be S$51. The old price was S$97.

NSF monthly concession passes will also be lowered to the same price as university students’ concession passes. The NSF bus concession pass will be S$52, down from S$61. The train concession pass price will be S$45, down from S$50. The hybrid concession pass will be priced at S$85, down from S$111.

Daily limit on rides for all train and hybrid monthly passes will also be removed.

As part of the fare review exercise, public transport operators must make a one-off contribution to the Public Transport Fund.

In total, SMRT and SBS Transit will contribute about S$11.5 million to help needy families cope with the fare adjustments.

The council will also balance the viability of bus and train modes.

Revenue collected from the fare increase will benefit bus and rail operations - bus operations will get about S$48 million, while rail operations will get S$5.5 million.

Public transport fares were last adjusted in October 2011.

The 2012 exercise was suspended to allow the Fare Review Mechanism Committee (FRMC) to complete their review.

The council said this year's fare increase is significantly lower than the expected average national wage increase last year.

The full-year's data on wage increase is not available yet, but the council estimates it to be about 4.1 per cent based on last year's January to September data.

It added that the average national wage increase is likely to be close to 5 per cent for the full year because of generally better year-end bonuses for 2013 compared to 2012.

The council said it is mindful that the 3.2 per cent fare increase is higher than previous adjustments, and there will be commuters affected by the change.

---