SINGAPORE: Adults will soon have to pay up to 50 cents more for an express bus ride while seniors, students, people with disabilities and low-wage workers will pay up to 24 cents more.
Those paying with cash will pay 60 cents more than they currently do for these express journeys.
The changes will take effect from Dec 27, said the Public Transport Council (PTC).
Express buses, including City Direct Services, reduce travel times from the heartland to the city areas and key employment centres.
Announcing the adjustments on Tuesday (Oct 14) following its annual fare review, PTC said express bus services cost more to operate than standard bus services, and the adjustments would better reflect this and improve the financial sustainability of express services.
This is the first time that the fare gap between express and regular bus services is being revised since distance-based fares were introduced in 2010.
PTC chief executive Leow Yew Chin said the idea is to increase the fares of express bus services to better correspond with the costs to provide them.
“Hopefully, in doing so, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will also have more room to introduce even more City Direct Services to benefit commuters,” he told reporters on Oct 14.
Leow said the cost to operate such services is 1½ times more than a standard bus service, and the latest fare adjustment will help reduce the gap between costs and fare revenue.
He said about 28,000 journeys are taken on express bus services, forming around 1 per cent of all daily bus journeys.
City Direct Services operate between major residential estates and the Central Business District during peak hours on weekdays and are meant to serve as alternatives to existing public transport connections to the city centre.
According to LTA’s MyTransport.SG app, there are 23 City Direct Services and 22 express services.
After factoring in the fare increase for standard bus services, the cost of taking a 10km express bus ride for an adult will go up from S$2.37 to S$2.86. A senior taking the same ride will pay S$1.72, instead of S$1.48.
PTC said that even after the increase, express bus fares will still be lower than those offered by privately operated premium bus services, which charge $4 to $5 per trip on average. There are 30 such services listed on the MyTransport.SG app. – The Straits Times/ANN
