Netizens against transport fee hike
The results of a recently-concluded Yahoo! Singapore poll revealed that almost all netizens are against SBS and SMRT raising their fares.
A total of 14,787 respondents participated in the three-day poll, which asked what they thought about SBS and SMRT's application for a fare increase.
13,920 Yahoo! users, or 94 per cent of the respondents, indicated that the transport services provided by both companies has had little improvement over the years, despite increasing their fares a number of times.
Both operators submitted their applications for fare adjustment to the Public Transport Council (PTC) on Monday. The increase is calculated using the annual fare adjustment formula recommended by the Government-appointed Fare Review Mechanism Committee.
The formula takes into account the consumer price index, wage index and productivity gains.
4 per cent of of the respondents appeared more understanding of both transport companies' plight in dealing with rising costs and inflation. The remaining 2 per cent of respondents were not concerned about the potential price hike.
SBS Transit said it is spending S$268 million to purchase 600 new buses, scheduled for delivery in 2011 and 2012.
The operator has purchased a total of 2,050 new buses since 2006 as part of its fleet renewal exercise. The buses cost about S$854 million, said SBS Transit.
For the financial year 2011, SMRT's energy cost increased 17.5 per cent to S$122.4 million due mainly to higher electricity and diesel prices, as well as the expansion of the rail network with the opening of Circle Line Phase 1 and 2, said the operator.
Its manpower costs have also increased because of a 0.5 percentage point increase in employer CPF contribution rate to 15 per cent in September 2010 and to 15.5 per cent in March 2011.
SMRT also hired more staff because of the Circle Line opening and to operate additional train and bus trips. The operator introduced 420 extra train trips from March and increased the number of bus trips by 5.4 per cent.
The application for a price increase has led to Member of Parliament, Denise Phua, writing on her Facebook page, "I am concerned that the transport operators are asking for permission from the PTC for fare increase."
While there are good reasons like the rise in operating costs, Phua suggested that it could be time for stakeholders to "deeply study the underlying assumptions on how this industry is structured and how prices are fixed and applied".
"Yes, I have heard that public transport is best run by private operators (for efficiency and cost management) but can there be better hybrid systems which might work better than today's?" she questioned.
"Would a third-alternative system be possible to provide even more incentives especially to Singaporeans not just to relieve their cost of living; but also in applying the principle that membership (being Singaporean) has its privileges" she added.
