Public transport is heavily subsidised.
MRT lines are expensive to build. They also cost a lot to operate, to maintain and to renew ageing assets.
The Government does not recover the infrastructure costs through fares, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said in his National Day Message to MOT.
“Fare revenue is insufficient to cover these operational expenses. Government has been spending $2 billion every year to subsidise the running of the public transport system,” Mr Ong said.
“Over the next decade or so, we will open new stations and lines almost every year starting with the remaining stages of Thomson-East Coast Line, to completing Circle Line, and opening Jurong Region Line and then Cross Island Line. The MRT network will grow from around 230km today to 360km by then.”
An attractive public transport system will help move us towards a car-lite nation, making for a greener, fairer and better Singapore, Mr Ong added.
How affordable is Singapore’s public transport?
The 2018 McKinsey & Company report surveyed urban transportation in 24 global cities. It found that Singapore’s public transport system is the most affordable.
How efficient is the Singapore Public Transport System?
The same survey also ranks Singapore’s public transport system as the second-best in the world.
“Singapore has created a best-in-class public transport system, which is accessible, efficient, convenient, sustainable, and at the same time affordable.
- One distinctive feature of Singaporean public transport is efficiency—the country’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) is now working on developing a system of predictive maintenance.
- Affordability is another advantage. A major step toward affordability was made in 2013, when the fares were reviewed and new measures were introduced, including a 15 percent discount on adult fares for low-wage workers, free travel for children, and seven other concessions.
As a result, more than one million public transport passengers benefited from the new scheme.”
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