The wheels are in motion for another round of public transport fare hikes. Singapore's two public transport operators, SBS Transit and SMRT, have submitted their applications to the Public Transport Council (PTC) for fare adjustments. However, both companies would not give specifics as to the quantum requested. SBS Transit and SMRT attributed the need for a fare increase to soaring energy and fuel prices.
SMRT said even a maximum fare adjustment of 3 per cent will not fully mitigate the inflationary pressures. The company said its energy costs rose by 18 per cent to nearly S$90 million due mainly to higher electricity and diesel prices. Diesel cost for buses amounted to more than S$42 million, 17 per cent higher than the last financial year. SBS Transit said it is proposing to keep concession, children and students fares unchanged. While the new fare formula allows for the maximum adjustment to be capped at 3 per cent, the PTC has said that any increase this year is likely to be less than the 1.8 per cent hike imposed last year. Bus fares went up by 1 to 2 cents last October, while train fares remained unchanged, because the PTC deemed that SMRT had healthy profits last year.
The PTC will decide on the adjustment in September, and the new fares will take effect in October. [End of report]
Nothing surprising about this news. It was just a matter of time before it was announced. I just find it funny though why they have decided to announce it only now when the global oil prices have gone down recently and not in the last few months or so when the oil prices were at its peak. One possible reason could be that they do not want to see all the public transport fares to go up at the same time. As we all know, taxi companies here have increased their fares again recently. It is understandable why they would want to increase their fares, the higher cost of diesel being the main reason but the oil market has stabalised over the past few weeks or so. There is no guarentee that the problem is over but at least oil companies here and around the world have started to reduce their price of diesel and petrol as a result of the declining global oil prices. Therefore, I find it strange that we have not heard anything regarding about the taxi's fares here. When the oil prices went up, it doesnt take too long for them to announce that they are going to raise the fares but when it goes down, we heard nothing, but instead another increase in another public transport.
Nevertheless, it is good to hear that SBS Transit is proposing to keep concession, children and students fares unchanged. I dont know if the PTC will allow SMRT to increase its fares this time round. I know that last year, they had huge profits, hence there was no changes made in the train fares, but I dont know if the situation remains the same now. I hope it is, then it will only be the bus fares that will be affected. It's also good to hear that any increase this year is likely to be less than the 1.8 per cent hike imposed last year, as you can read from the report, the bus fares went up by 1 or 2 cents last year so it could even be much lesser than that amount if there is going to be any increase in fares this year. I have no problem with the proposed increase in the fares, but I just find the timing of the decision weird. I understand the need to increase the fares but at the same time, I think it should be done in accordance with the global market as well. The oil prices is going down at the moment, nobody knows how long it will last, it is so volatile. You can see a huge drop today and a huge increase the next, that is how volatile it is but at the moment, it is doing just fine.
Everything is going up these days, so be prepared to save more for the future. A few cents of increase in the bus fares wont affect me much but it still means I will need to pay more and that is not good. My only hope is that the public transport companies here will try to adjust with the changes accordingly. Im trying to say that it is understandable if they want to increase the fares with the current situation, but once it has calm down a bit, you should also try to decrease the fares and not just stick with the newly increased fares and continue waiting for the next opportunity when they can further increase it. I also think that they should take more time to consider it and ask what are the public views before submitting the application. Well that is what I think. What about you? Do you think SBS and SMRT are doing the right thing or do you think they should stick with the current fares? Tell me.
*The report was taken from ChannelNewsAsia.
No comments:
Post a Comment