Standardising the rail fare structure makes things fairer for all since some commuters live in areas served only by fully underground lines and have had to pay more, said transport experts.

Charging based on distance — instead of whether the commute is on an above- or underground line — also dovetails with the Government’s shift towards taking on more of the operating costs and fare risks, they added.

They were commenting on the Public Transport Council’s (PTC) announcement yesterday that fares on fully-underground lines — the North-East Line (NEL), Circle Line and Downtown Line — will be lowered to match that of above-ground lines, a difference that currently ranges from four to 25 cents.

SIM University’s senior lecturer Walter Theseira said the issue with the current fragmented fare structure was that commuters were paying different prices because of “accidents of geography”. “You would have to pay more if you just happened to live in an area such as Punggol that is served by the all-underground lines,” he said. Differences in rail fares were introduced in 2003 with the introduction of the NEL to reflect the higher operating costs of underground rail lines.

In explaining the change, PTC chairman Richard Magnus also noted that with rail and bus services continuing to expand, fragmented fares could cause more confusion for commuters.

Deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Ang Hin Kee agreed, saying “most people are not clear about the current fare structure where you pay more for using the underground lines as the operating costs are higher”.

Transport analyst Park Byung Joon said the sharp fall in energy prices was what made it possible for the PTC to implement a single rail fare structure now.

“As energy prices are volatile, it’s a good opportunity to act on this now as we might not be able to do it later,” said Dr Park, also from SIM University.

Dr Theseira said the move also shifts away from an expectation placed on rail operators to cover their operating costs and be profitable.

The public transport sector is also moving towards a fare model that views the entire transport network holistically, with the Government taking on more responsibility for operating costs and fare risk, he added.

Agreeing, Mr Ang noted that while the Government needs to be cost-conscious, it also strives to be equitable. The new fare structure means that public transport will be “less driven by profit-centric cost considerations”, he added. Analysts did not think that having a single fare structure would affect the financial viability of transport operators.

Dr Park said that most of the fare reduction comes from lower energy cost — money that operators do not pocket. “For example, if it costs S$100 for fuel, public transport operators need to charge S$100 for the fuel. If it becomes S$80, they only collect S$80. It is not that they are losing S$20,” he said.

Even if an operator’s financial health might be threatened because of the new fare structure, Dr Theseira felt the Government would be prepared to step in by providing subsidies at the back end. “It is important to have efficiency from operators, but not at the expense of quality, and if the fare revenue is too low to sustain quality, then there must be some adjustments made in the back end,” he added.

Meanwhile, National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) executive secretary Melvin Yong welcomed the move to simplify the fare structure, saying it will benefit commuters.

But Mr Yong noted that fares impact the income of public transport workers and cautioned that “to maintain service reliability and long term sustainability of the public transport system, large fare fluctuations should be minimised where possible”.

He added: “NTWU will continue to work closely with all public transport operators to strengthen efforts in attracting and retaining manpower in the public transport sector, and further improve the well-being of all our public transport workers.”

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by FARIS MOKHTAR

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