SINGAPORE: Singapore’s rail fares are among the lowest compared to that of 35 major cities across Asia, Australia, North America and Europe, a new study commissioned by the country’s Public Transport Council (PTC) showed.
In a blog post on Monday (Dec 5), PTC chairman Richard Magnus released some of the key findings from the study, which was carried out by private university UniSIM.
The study showed that at S$0.77, Singapore’s lowest rail fare is higher than only the minimum fares in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Taipei.
(Image: Public Transport Council)
A separate comparison, of the cost of travelling 10km by rail in each city, likewise ranked Singapore low among the 35 cities in the survey.
(Image: Public Transport Council)
The 10km data point is meant to reflect the average journey distance for commuters in Singapore, said Mr Magnus. In Singapore, a 10km journey would cost S$1.33.
He added that fares for the other cities were converted to Singapore dollars based on each city’s purchasing power parity, where available. The adjustments account for any differences in strength of currency and cost of living across the regions, he said.
A PTC spokesperson said the survey findings would be used as a benchmark to monitor Singapore’s public transport fares.
“We will continue to conduct such comparison studies, to ensure that we are kept abreast of international fare trends and uphold PTC’s commitment to keep fares affordable for our commuters, while ensuring the sustainability of our public transport system,” Mr Magnus wrote in his blog post.
He added that the PTC also monitors the public transport expenditure of commuters as a percentage of their household income. “The figure, currently at 2.2 per cent for the second quintile income group of households, has improved over the years,” he wrote.
“This means the average public transport user is spending a smaller proportion of their monthly income on public transport expenditure.”
The PTC said it would publish the full report of the fare benchmark study on its website by Dec 31.
It also pointed to an upcoming fare reduction, which takes effect on Dec 30. Fares will be lowered by 4.2 per cent, which translates into a reduction of up to 27 cents per trip.
