Come up with better reason SMRT!

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

The service is not longer reliable for years,how can still use it as a reason to justify fare increase?

Quote:
SINGAPORE: One of the two public transport operators in Singapore confirmed on Monday that it will be looking to raise its fares as the fare revision exercise gets under way.

The Public Transport Council (PTC) announced the start of the exercise in a press release, which said the operators have till December 19 to submit for consideration their applications for fare hikes. The council said it will announce its decision in the first quarter of next year.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, SMRT confirmed its intention to seek a fare hike.

SMRT Director for Media Marketing and Communications Alina Boey said: “We seek a better alignment between fares and operating costs, and will be submitting our application for a fare review in the coming weeks.”

She added that the operator remains committed to delivering a reliable and service-oriented public transport network.

Despite healthy ridership growth, SMRT had previously said business conditions remained “challenging” due to higher operating costs. Second-quarter revenue for its bus business was S$58.4 million, up by 2.9 per cent, but its operating loss was down 6.4 per cent to S$7 million.

Last week in Parliament, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew urged the PTC not to grant any fare increase that would exceed the average national wage increase this year. He also noted that fares have become more affordable as wages have risen at a faster rate than fares.

The PTC said it would pay particular attention to fare affordability for lower-income groups and, where necessary, fare increases would be capped and spread over more than one year to prevent a sudden and large fare hike.

It will take into account the recent recommendations by the Fare Review Mechanism Committee (FRMC), which were fully accepted by the government.

The FRMC’s proposals included two new concession schemes for the poor and the disabled and enhancements to five existing schemes — to be cross-subsidised by full-fare-paying adults — that will cover children, polytechnic students, the elderly and heavy users of public transport.

The PTC said it will consider the proposed enhancement of existing concessions.

“In assessing the affordability of any fare increase, the PTC will also take into account new concessions to be funded by the government,” it added.

-TODAY/xq




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