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Public transport fares may drop next year: Lui

SINGAPORE — Commuters may see a potential drop in fares next year, given the drop in energy prices last year.

SINGAPORE — Commuters may see a potential drop in fares next year, given the drop in energy prices last year.

Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew laid out this possibility in Parliament today (Jan 19), pointing out that the decline in last year’s energy and fuel prices “could possible translate to a negative fare adjustment”, to the tune of around negative 1 per cent, based on available data thus far. The 2015 fare review exercise, which will occur at the end of this year, will use indices in 2014.

Apart from the fare formula, the Public Transport Council (PTC) also takes into account other factors, such as affordability and the public transport operators’ applications for fare increase, in deciding on fare adjustment, he said.

Mr Lui was responding to a question by Mr Gan Thiam Poh, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, on whether the ongoing fare review exercise will consider a reduction in transport fares due to the fall in oil prices. The exercise began last November and its results are expected to be announced by the first quarter of this year.

The fare formula is pegged to changes in the Core Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Wage Index and the Energy Index and is based on changes over the preceding year.

Mr Lui said the ongoing fare review exercise had yielded a negative 0.6 per cent fare adjustment quantum.

“Supposing we had implemented the full 6.6 per cent fare adjustment quantum in the previous fare review exercise (in January last year) and we did not carry over the 3.4 per cent, then indeed we would have a fare adjustment for this year that is negative 0.6 per cent this time round.”

But because the remaining 3.4 per cent was carried over, the fare adjustment quantum in this current exercise will be 2.8 per cent instead, he added.

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