Seniors, students and commuters using a Persons with Disabilities card will pay 5 cents more per journey. The increase is the largest to date, exceeding the rise of up to 11 cents in the 2023 fare review.
For commuters paying cash, fares will rise by 20 cents per trip for adults and 10 cents for seniors, students and people with disabilities.
Monthly travel passes will also stay at SGD122 for adults and SGD55 for seniors and people with disabilities.
At a Tuesday briefing, the Public Transport Council said it had approved a 7% increase, less than half the maximum permitted rise of 14.7%, according to The Straits Times.
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A train in Singapore. Photo by Unsplash/Shawn |
“Over the past five years, the PTC has moderated fare increases to strike a balance between keeping public transport fares affordable for commuters and ensuring the financial sustainability of Singapore’s public transport system amid rising operating and energy costs.
“Commuters have been shielded from the full increase in costs, whenever fares were not fully adjusted by the quantum determined by the fare formula,” it said.
PTC said it encourages commuters who travel frequently to consider buying monthly passes to help manage public transport expenses. Over the past three years, the number of monthly passes sold has more than doubled from 56,000 in 2023 to 126,000 this year, according to Channel News Asia.
To ease the impact on low-income families, public transport vouchers will increase from SGD60 to SGD80.
Adults paying by card will pay 12 cents more for journeys of up to 3.2 km and 13 cents more for longer trips. A roughly 2 km MRT ride from Tanah Merah to Bedok will cost SGD1.40, up from SGD1.28.
PTC chairperson Janet Ang said the year-on-year change in the monthly price of diesel had swung from -14% to 138% during the period considered in the fare review.
“We recognize that it’s a difficult and challenging environment for everyone, but… public transport is a very energy-intensive industry,” she said.
The PTC said the share of household income spent on public transport had remained low over the past decade.
“The proportion of household income spent on public transport by lower-income households has held steady at 2.4%.
“For average-income households, this proportion has also held steady at 1.7%. Relative to other cities, our public transport fares remain one of the lowest in the world,” it said.
Singapore recorded the highest income per capita in Asia last year at $99,365, according to the International Monetary Fund.