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Transport fares to fall by up to 1.9% in Dec

SINGAPORE — Come December, public transport fares will be reduced by up to 1.9 per cent due to falling fuel prices, announced Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew today (Aug 3).

Commuters boarding the Circle Line at Bishan Station. TODAY file photo

Commuters boarding the Circle Line at Bishan Station. TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — Come December, public transport fares will be reduced by up to 1.9 per cent due to falling fuel prices, announced Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew today (Aug 3).

This is bigger than the expected 1 per cent reduction announced at the beginning of year, and the adjustment also takes effect earlier than usual. Typically, fare adjustments are made in April, with this year’s adjustment - an increase of 2.8 per cent - implemented just four months ago. 

The adjustment, said Mr Lui is to coincide with the opening of the second phase of the Downtown Line. “I’ve asked the Public Transport Council (PTC) to initiate the process of taking off the fare exercise for 2015. I encourage the PTC to pass on this 1.9 per cent reduction fully to commuters so that they can enjoy the benefits of it,” said Mr Lui, who announced this during a preview of new Circle Line trains.

He added that he would leave it to the PTC to work out the specific reductions, but expects “every commuter group” to pay lower fares.

The PTC is an independent body that regulates public transport fares, among other things. Its fare review exercise was to have begun at the end of the year, using 2014 indices.

When asked whether the announcement was related to the General Election — widely anticipated to take place in September — Mr Lui said: “No, not really. I mean it’s just that I think it’s just more convenient to not have to tweak the fare system twice.”

As to how it would affect the timing of fare adjustments next year, he said: “Well, I think leave 2016 to 2016, you know what’s happening to 2015.”

In January, Mr Lui had told Parliament that the decline in last year’s energy and fuel prices could a drop in fares of around 1 per cent, based on available data at the time.

The fare formula used by the PTC is pegged to changes in the Core Consumer Price Index, the Wage Index and the Energy Index over the preceding year. Oil prices fell heavily last year with the benchmark United States crude falling below US$60 a barrel for the first time in five years.

The PTC could not respond to queries as of press time today.

SIM University (UniSIM) transport analyst Park Byung Joon said that a fare reduction is in line with expectations. The adjustment, he said, could have been brought forward to take advantage of the oil prices: “If they wait until next April, they cannot be sure if the oil prices will go up.”

Nanyang Technological University Assistant Professor Walter Theseira said the earlier adjustment is “warranted as energy prices have fallen to a greater extent than expected”.

Asked whether he felt the General Election was a factor, he said: “Any government in power would want the public to know they are being taken care of.”

He added: “It is natural to take advantage of lower oil prices — I would only be concerned if the fares were reduced without economic justification.”

Meanwhile, the passenger capacity on the Circle Line will increase by 60 per cent within a year, with 24 new trains to be added. Of the 24, seven have already been progressively deployed and another three to five will be put into service by the end of the year.

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