A Fare Increase

The public transport companies in Singapore have tweaked the bus fares for the public by calculating bus fares based on distance traveled from 3 July onwards. Based on the new system, fares are now calculated by the distance you travelled with a reduction of the penalty you pay if you switch public transport in the middle of your trip.

Frankly, let’s call it what it is. It’s a fare increase.

Like most Singaporeans, when I travel on public transport, I will choose the shortest time it would take to from Point A to Point B. Almost without question, this means that I will not transfer between buses or MRT trains. If I do transfer, I could be waiting at the bus-stop for up to 15mins for my second bus. Like most Singaporeans, I try to avoid that at all cost.

So I only travel on a single trip and under the new structure, I will pay more. The LTA says that 1 in 3 fares will increase under the new scheme, but I just can’t see that. Most people I know travel in single trips, and there is almost a guarantee fare increase. Hell even if you have 1 transfer, you might still end up paying more.

Instead of 1 in 3 fares increasing, it seems more likely that 2 in 3 fares being increase. The only I see which there will be a decrease of the fares is if you have 2 or more transfers on your travels, and how many people you know have that? LTA call the new structure the “Distance Based Fare System”, but to me (and most Singaporeans) it is just a fare increase.