SBS Transit, SMRT ask to raise bus and train fares

[vince123123]

Here's a good article from theonlinecitizen:

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/07/26/403/

Fare hike for public transport in October?

Posted by theonlinecitizen on July 26th, 2007

By Andrew Loh
The Public Transport Council (PTC) has given public transport operators until August 2007 to apply for any fare revisions they wish to make. (Straits Times, Mar 23, 2007).
Any fare hike will take effect from October, according to a PTC spokesman quoted by the Straits Times.
Undoubtedly, any increase in fares will have commuters up in arms, as was the case in previous years. Any rise in transport fares will come on the back of an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the Consumer Price Index (CPI).


Consumer Price Index
The Department of Statistics, in its press release on the CPI for May 2007, said:

“Compared with the same month a year ago, the consumer price index in May 2007 was 1.0 per cent higher.”
For the CPI in June, the TODAY newspaper reported:
“The consumer price index (for June) rose 1.3 per cent from a year earlier… Transport and communication costs, the second-biggest component at 22% of the index, climbed 2.8% last month from a year earlier.”
The CPI is used in the formula by the PTC to determine how much any fare increase will be, as posted on its website:
Maximum Fare Adjustment = 0.5 CPI + 0.5 WI - 0.3%
CPI = Change in Consumer Price Index over the preceding year, WI = Change in Average Monthly Earnings (Annual National Average) over the preceding year, adjusted to account for any change in the employer’s CPF contribution rate , 0.3% = The productivity extraction based on a sharing of productivity gains achieved by PTOs

A chronology of fare hikes since 1990 (PTC website):

1990: BUS FARE REVISION

• 10 cents increase in non air-con fares generally.
• 5 to 10 cents increase in air-con fares with no change to the minimum (60 cents) and maximum fares ($1.20).

1994: BUS FARE REVISION

• Extension of the maximum bus fare by another fare stage (over 14.4 km), to $1.00 and $1.30 for non air-con and air-con services respectively (equivalent to a 10 cents increase)

1995 : BUS FARE REVISION

• Extension of the maximum bus fare by another fare stage (over 18.4 km) to $1.10 and $1.40 for non air-con and air-con services respectively (equivalent to a 10 cents increase).
• 5 cents increase in feeder fares and industrial fares to 30 cents and 45 cents respectively, with the corresponding introduction of a 5 cents transfer rebate for feeder buses.
• $2 increase in concession stamps prices for tertiary students, NS men and SBS shareholders.

1997 : BUS FARE REVISION

• 5 cents increase across the board for non air-con services on farecard fares. No change for air-con farecard fares.
• 10 cents increase across the board for air-con and non air-con services on cash fares.
• Conversion of flat fare to distance-related fares for industrial bus services.
• $3- $5 increase in non air-con bus concession stamp prices.

1999 : NEW FARES FOR BUKIT PANJANG LRT
Similar to fares on existing RTS lines, distance-related fares were adopted for Bukit Panjang LRT.

2000: BUS FARE REVISION

• 10 cents increase in adult feeder bus fares (cash and farecard) with a corresponding increase in the feeder transfer rebate by 10 cents (from 5 cents to 15 cents).
• 5 cents increase in child/student feeder bus fares (cash and farecard) with a 10 cents increase in the feeder transfer rebate (from 5 cents to 15 cents).
• Extension of the maximum fare by another fare band (over 23.5 km) to $1.30 and $1.60 for non air-con and air-con services respectively for cash fares, and $1.25 and $1.50 for non air-con and air-con services respectively for farecard fares.
• Addition of 2 fare bands to the fare structure of Jurong industrial bus services (maximum fare was increased by 20 cents).

2000:LIGHT RAPID TRANSIT (LRT) SINGLE TRIP FARE
10 cents increase in the LRT Single Trip Ticket adult fares (the new minimum became 80 cents while new maximum was $1.00). No change in adult farecard fares (minimum was 60 cents and maximum was 80 cents).

2001 :BUS FARE REVISION

• 10 cents increase in feeder bus fares with corresponding increase in transfer rebates by 10 cents (feeder bus transfer rebate became 25 cents, the same as the transfer rebate involving non-feeder bus services).

2002:BUS FARE REVISION

• 3 cents increase in adult EZ-link card fares.
• 5 cents increase in adult farecard fares.
• 10 cents increase in adult cash fares.
• 50 cents increase in concession stamp prices for primary/secondary students.
• $2 increase in concession stamp prices for tertiary students.
• $3 increase in concession stamp prices for NS men.

2003:NEW FARES FOR NORTH EAST LINE (NEL)

• Differentiated fares for the NEL at 5 cents to 25 cents higher than the existing RTS fares, or an average of 16.5 cents more.
• Fares for child/student/NS men concessions remained the same as that for the existing RTS lines.

2005 :BUS FARE REVISION

• 1-2 cents increase in adult EZ-link card fares.
• 10 cents increase in adult cash fares.
• 1 cent increase in senior citizen EZ-Link card fares and 10 cents increase in senior citizen cash fares.

2006 :BUS FARE REVISION

• 1-3 cents increase in adult EZ-link card fares.
• 1 cent increase in senior citizen EZ-Link card fares.

 

[vince123123]

Part II:

There have been 9 major fare revisions carried out since 1990. From 2000 to 2006, fare revisions were carried out every year except for 2004.

Profits
The main point of unhappiness – if any hike were approved - perhaps, will be the profits that the transport operators are making.

The SMRT has announced a profit after tax of $135.8m for financial year 2007, an increase of 31% from the previous year. (Link)
In the years 2003 to 2007, SMRT’s profit after tax are as follows:
2007 = $135.8m
2006 = $103.6m
2005 = $126.6m
2004 = $90.2m
2003 = $72.2m

For SBS Transit, its profit after tax for the years 2003 to 2006 are as follows (obtained from its website):
2006 = $56.1m
2005 = $51.5m
2004 = $49.2m
2003 = $19m


Questions raised again
Singaporeans will again be asking: Should public transport providers be seeking ever more profits? How much is enough?
It seems that there is a revision of fares every other year and the transport companies are making good profits. SMRT’s profits have almost doubled from 2003 to 2007 while SBS Transit has more than doubled its profits from 2003 to 2006.

Will the PTC approve any application in fare hike this year?
The following weeks will provide the answers to these questions.
Theonlinecitizen will be featuring a few articles on public transport in the coming days.
If you wish to have your say, or to share your experiences using public transport, please do write to us at theonlinecitizen@gmail.com

*Update: SMRT Q1 profit rises 38.5% to $37.94m – SMRT website, media release, 27 July 2007. Visit the SMRT website “Announcement” page for more details on the 1Q FY2008 results.
————————————————
*SMRT Buses has a fleet of 800 buses. SMRT also operates the main MRT line and the LRT in Bukit Panjang. (Link)
**SBS Transit owns 75% of the scheduled bus market share in Singapore with 217 bus services and has a total fleet of more than 2,700 buses. It also runs the NEL MRT line and the LRT in Sengkang and Punggol. (Link)

 

[Hawaiisg]

World class caters to the rich only, not the masses.

...well, then like i said, if you dun like things you have the power to change it. otherwise fall in and be a complainer like seemingly most everyone else.

why complain, you get from a to b at a fair price. where i live, we waited about 15-20 minutes for each bus and we were happy with that..we thought it was very reasonable, and in fact it is. here, it seems you guys dun wanna wait that long and that's fine, but if you want more you gotta pay more...even mcdonalds charges more for upsizing right? :dunno:

the downside of this...bus drivers will get fined for being late. sooooo, maybe i'm wrong here but is this "convenience" coming at a price of both money in your wallet and possibly safety for others on the road?

 

[datan]

Part II:

to put it in context, how much has Singapore's per capita income risen since 1990?

 

[Hoky]

but these company belongs to the gov partly...complain also prices going up...look at NETS...CASE also step in...but prices still goes up...

CASE is useless one..

 

[Jaycelim]

CASE is useless one..

CASE's top management is also a PAPER.
(A person who sing is a singer, so PAPER, u all should know what's that)

 

[redstone]

This kind of buses, this kind of waiting times and this kind of charges? Are shareholders or the general public more important? :angry:

Or I suppose the shareholders don't take public transport often?

 

[datan]

This kind of buses, this kind of waiting times and this kind of charges? Are shareholders or the general public more important? :angry:

Or I suppose the shareholders don't take public transport often?

maybe you would like to elaborate what's wrong with the buses, waiting times and charges by comparing to neighbouring and developed countries?

 

[Godzilla Invades]

...well, then like i said, if you dun like things you have the power to change it. otherwise fall in and be a complainer like seemingly most everyone else.

why complain, you get from a to b at a fair price. where i live, we waited about 15-20 minutes for each bus and we were happy with that..we thought it was very reasonable, and in fact it is. here, it seems you guys dun wanna wait that long and that's fine, but if you want more you gotta pay more...even mcdonalds charges more for upsizing right? :dunno:

the downside of this...bus drivers will get fined for being late. sooooo, maybe i'm wrong here but is this "convenience" coming at a price of both money in your wallet and possibly safety for others on the road?

Mac Donald you have the option not to upsize......but when you get on a bus it's a fixed price.

Where are you staying? How much are you paying? What is the average wage salary?

It's not about waiting longer or shorter. We can wait longer but problem is price keeps increasing but service still the same. Not saying they should not be making profit but if they are making profit, why raise fares every other year?

Look at the chronology extract from vince123123.

 

[jsbn]

I have the rush to sell my S3Pro. Dunno why....

 

[zcf]

maybe you would like to elaborate what's wrong with the buses, waiting times and charges by comparing to neighbouring and developed countries?

How about compare to HK? Which I heard they have a much better frequency, less crowded? Pricing I am not very sure, anyone can enlighten us? :think:

 

[arpinkor]

HK bus the pricing is different from here. At the terminal, you pay the most, then as each stop nearer to the other end, you pay lesser and lesser. They don't care how many stops your actual journey is, just where you get on the bus.

 

[jusri]

How about compare to HK? Which I heard they have a much better frequency, less crowded? Pricing I am not very sure, anyone can enlighten us? :think:

yes i heard tht too. better frequency and much better service i heard... :think:

maybe down there the bus captains dun get bullied or kena whack for nothing :dunno:

 

[sORe-EyEz]

actually, y need compare our public transport system to other country? :nono:

self-improvement would b betta den any comparison w/ other Tom-Dick-Harry. we already 1st world country, should b setting benchmark liao...

 

[vince123123]

to put it in context, how much has Singapore's per capita income risen since 1990?

I don't know, perhaps you can email the writer to ask him.

However, I doubt that your or my salary has increased the way they have:

SMRT & percentage gain from previous year:

2003 = $72.2m - 0%
2004 = $90.2m - 24.9% increase
2005 = $126.6m - 40.4% increase
2006 = $103.6m - 18.2% decrease
2007 = $135.8m - 31.2 % increase

Average increase for last 4 years = 19.6%

2003 = $19m - 0%
2004 = $49.2m - 155.9% increase
2005 = $51.5m - 4.7% increase
2006 = $56.1m - 8.9% increase

Average increase for last 3 years = 56.5%

Do you think any of the average Joe's salary increase by 20 to 56% yearly over the last 3 to 4 years?

 

[zcf]

According to this site,
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hong_Kong_Island

Bus fare is ranging from $8.9 to $9.4 for routes linking the urban areas in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Some routes heading for more remote places are charged at a higher fare.

Hong Kong bus fares is around S$1.80 per trip. Which indeed more expensive than Singapore for short trip, but comparable for long journey... Singapore service still don't look very good however compare the efficiency of HK bus service.... :sweat:

 

[furrycake]

sian.. not again .... i'll skip the bus from home to mrt liao... gonna walk 20 mins at least, vice versa. good exercise and save money :sweat: everything also increase price.. makes me think if i should migrate

 

[sORe-EyEz]

sian.. not again .... i'll skip the bus from home to mrt liao... gonna walk 20 mins at least, vice versa. good exercise and save money :sweat: everything also increase price.. makes me think if i should migrate

cant imagine if u still may need to rely on public transport to go airport... :bsmilie:

 

[vince123123]

One thing to consider is that Hong Kongers may be paid much more than local equilvalents.

I know that in my field of industry, they get paid at least double our pay.

According to this site,
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hong_Kong_Island



Hong Kong bus fares is around S$1.80 per trip. Which indeed more expensive than Singapore for short trip, but comparable for long journey... Singapore service still don't look very good however compare the efficiency of HK bus service.... :sweat:

 

[Harry Potter]

I don't mind being charged more... but they must decrease the waiting time and over-crowding.

This issues haven't been resolved for very long! :thumbsd: