On Wednesday, the Public Transport Council released a statement saying that public transport operators can submit their application for fare review by Dec 19, and that it would announce its decisions on applications in the first quarter of next year.
“The PTC will take guidance from the fare review mechanism and fare adjustment formula recommended by the Fare Review Mechanism Committee and accepted by the Government in November 2013,” it said. “This will ensure a good balance between meeting the needs of the commuting public and keeping the public transport system financially sustainable.”
It also said that it will pay more attention to “fare affordability” for more vulnerable groups.
SMRT has also confirmed that it would be submitting its application for a fare review in the coming weeks through it’s Vice-President for Corporate Information and Communications Patrick Nathan who said that:”We seek a better alignment of fares and operating costs, and will be submitting our application for a fare review in the coming weeks.”
SMRT also says it will be submitting its application for a fare review in the coming weeks.
Here is an excerpt of the PTC’s Fare Regulation Framework.
“Public bus and train services are provided on a commercial basis, within the maximum fares approved by PTC. The Government does not provide direct subsidies for public transport operations.
To keep public transport fares affordable to the general public, public transport infrastructures such as MRT/LRT lines and bus interchanges are funded entirely by the Government. In addition, public buses are also exempted from COE (Certificate of Entitlement) payments. The Government also pays for the development and software cost of the contactless smartcard system. Therefore, bus and train operators are only responsible for operations, maintenance costs and investments in service improvements.
In regulating bus and train fares, the PTC carries out its statutory mandate to safeguard public interest by keeping fares affordable while ensuring the long-term financial viability of the public transport operators.”
Following that, Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew posted this on his Facebook Page.
As the Minister of Transport, I believe that there is a lot more he can do to protect vulnerable groups from fare hikes than simply ‘hope.’
The last fare hike were implemented less than 12 months ago. Bus and Train fares were increased by 3.2%. Ever since there have been no significant improvement in train services. There have been at least 50 service disruptions/breakdowns since Jan 2014.
How are the fare hikes justified if there is no improvement in services even after wages were increased? In addition to the breakdowns, stations are also becoming increasingly crowded and it is not an uncommon to wait for a few trains to pass before you can even board one. Singaporeans are pretty rational people, if there had been an improvement in services, they would not mind paying more for services.
Mr Cedric Foo, PAP MP and Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport justified fare hikes by saying that “”If you look at it over the last six years, actually the compound annual growth rate in fare is well below half a per cent. If we look at wages, wages have clearly increased by more than half a per cent at each point. So, in the context of long-term fare trend, fare increases cannot remain at zero for good. That’s unrealistic because it’s not sustainable.”
A ‘fare review’ is simply a nicer way of saying ‘fare hike.’ The declining performances of trains is one factor that leads to most Singaporeans finding the fare hikes unjustifiable. The other factor is the fact that SMRT’s profits are sky-rocketing. For Q2 2014, SMRT reported a 75.5% spike in profits. Despite Cedric Foo’s argument, many still do not understand why there is even a need for fare hikes. Don’t forget that bus and train operators are only responsible for operations, maintenance costs and investments in service improvements. Additionally, the price of fuel has also declined significantly over the past few months, which should logically translate to lower operating costs.
Picture from Wake Up, Singapore
If the fare hike is to be eventually implemented, there is no way of getting around it. Unless one is rich enough to drive or take taxis everyday or lucky enough to live a walking distance away from the place they work/study, public transport is the only way of -getting around the island. And two private companies – SMRT and SBS have a monopoly over this. Corporate greed arising from what should essentially be a public service.
Do not be too quick to conclude that Singaporeans simply ‘accept their fate.’ Most of us aren’t in a position to influence the outcome of the fare review too. I for one do not believe the fares should be raised simply because there has been no significant improvement in the transport services since the last fare hike. But if the fare hikes are to be eventually implemented, it is unlikely that we will see mass protests or a nationwide boycott, but there will definitely be political consequences. Political Consequences not only for Lui Tuck Yew from the voters of Moulmein-Kallang GRC, but also for the PAP as a whole for allowing this state of affairs to develop.
Ariffin Sha
*The author blogs at http://ariffin-sha.com