SINGAPORE: To cover the cost of deferring further public transport fare hikes, the government will be pumping in an additional S$ 250 million ( US$ 191 million ) in subsidies to support public transport operators.  ,
A higher number of public transportation tickets will also gain more low-income households as a result of the Dec. 28 start-up’s transportation suffer increases.
Graduating individuals, however, may enjoy an extended period of four weeks of capitulation benefits.  ,
These are just a few of the measures that have been put in place to help reduce the cost pressure on public transportation operators as well as the burden of the fare increases that were announced on Monday ( Sep 9 ) for commuters.  ,
The Public Transport Council ( PTC ) announced a 10-cent fare hike per journey on public transport for adults, with a 4-cent hike for concession card holders such as students, seniors and persons with disabilities.
The Ministry of Transportation ( MOT ) reported that the S$ 250 million subsidy is in addition to the over S$ 2 billion in annual public transportation subsidies needed to keep bus and train services running, as well as the additional S$ 900 million over eight years for the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme.  ,
” In entire, this equates to more than S$ 1 in incentives for every trip taken on open carry”, said MOT in a press release on Monday.  ,
The S$ 250 million will be used to support a 12.9 % deferred fare increase that will be applied to the following fare assessment exercise.  ,
The greatest fare adjusting was 18.9 %, but the PTC had chosen to see a 6 % increase in charges to help travellers avoid the full increase.  ,
In comparison, both road users SBS Transit Rail and SMRT carriages had applied for the whole 18.9 per share fare increase.
PTC stated that the more government subsidies will help to lower the fare increase while also taking into account the cost of providing public transportation.  ,
Individuals CAN ENJOY EXTENDED CONCESSION FARES
Individuals can also enjoy concessionary charges for four months after graduating starting on December 28.  ,
Now, students in secondary schools, Institute of Technical Education colleges, young colleges, polytechnics and various authorities or government-aided secondary institutes and available private education institutions pay pupil concessionary fares.  ,
Some of these students may have to give adult fares before enrolling in another school and are qualified for concessionary fares once more when they graduate.  ,
According to PTC, Chee Hong Tat, the Minister for Transport, earlier this year requested an improvement in response to input from parents and students.  ,
After this, PTC made the decision to continue offering these fares to graduating students who were ready for concessionary tickets for four weeks after their studies were over.  ,
This may begin with graduating pupils whose eligibility for concessions expires on or after December 28 this year, and it will also apply to the entire graduating class. This means that the improvement will be beneficial for both students who are transitioning from student agreement benefits and those who are in the middle of their studies.  ,
In total, around 75, 000 college students are expected to gain from this shift every month.  ,
The college students for this year will need to touch their existing concessionary cards at any ticket system at MRT stations and bus interchanges, or attend a ticketing counter between October 1 and December 31 in order to prolong the validity of their concessionary cards.  ,
Kids whose graduations are scheduled for 2025 or later may be informed by their universities that their concessions will continue until the end of their studies.  ,
Less than 0.5 % of the complete public transportation fare revenue is spent on providing these kids with extended concessionary charges rather than adult tickets.  ,