Fare concessions unveiled for poly students, low-wage workers and persons with disabilities

To cope with a hike in public transport fares in April, a slew of concessions will be granted to several groups, including polytechnic students, lower-wage workers and persons with disabilities.

The Public Transport Council (PTC) said in a press conference on Thursday that the price of the monthly concession pass (MCP) for polytechnic students will be lowered by almost 50 per cent to let them enjoy the same rate as their peers in junior colleges.

For example, instead of paying S$97 for the hybrid (bus and train) concession pass, a polytechnic student will only need to pay S$51. (See table below)

Many people have hailed the concession for polytechnic students on social media.

However, polytechnic students can only enjoy lower fares with the use of MCPs as there will not be concessions on individual trips for them.

Prices of MCPs for full time national servicemen (NSFs) will be reduced to match that of university students.

There will also be free travel for children below 7 years old.

Currently, only children below 0.9m travel for free. Those above 0.9m and below 7 years old have to pay the same concessionary trip fares as primary school students.

Adult commuters who travel long distances or make multiple daily journeys can also benefit with an adult monthly travel pass priced at S$120 to cap the monthly travel expenditures.

For senior citizens, they also have an additional choice of an MCP priced at S$60 which allows them to make unlimited bus and train rides.

There will also be a removal of a daily limit of four train trips for train and hybrid MCPs as well as a lower pricing for all hybrid MCPs as shown in the table below.

All these concessions will start on 6 April.

Student concessionary fares and monthly concession passes will also be extended to Singaporean students studying full-time locally in private institutions registered with the Council on Private Education (CPE).

Currently, eligibility criterion is generally based on mainstream education or selected institutions.

Concessions will be progressively rolled out in end 2014 and early 2015.

PTC chairman Gerard Ee said it will take a longer process for the concessions to be rolled out to this group as there are certain logistics to be sorted out.

About half a million commuters will enjoy the concession enhancements announced by PTC.

Concessions for lower-wage workers and persons with disabilities to start in July

The ministries of transport, manpower, and social and family development will also introduce and fund two new concessions schemes for lower-wage workers (LWWs) and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

Under the new Workfare Transport Concession Scheme (WTCS), LWWs under the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme will enjoy 15 per cent discount off adult fares.

The concession scheme is applicable for individuals below 60 years old and who are recipients of the WIS scheme.

This is because those who are 60 years old and above would already be eligible for the senior citizen concession scheme, which provides higher concessions than the WTCS.

To qualify for WIS, a worker must meet these criteria.

Under the new PWD fare concession scheme, PWDs will enjoy 25 per cent discount off adult fares and will not have to pay additional fare for distances beyond 7.2km.

On top of this, PWDs can opt to buy a monthly concession pass with unlimited bus and train rides at S$60 per month.

The concession scheme is applicable to persons less than 60 years of age, who are Singapore citizens and permanent residents, and are beneficiaries of existing disability schemes and services and members (with permanent disability) of relevant voluntary welfare organisiations (VWO), or attended special education schools operated by a VWO or are certified by a medical practitioner to have one or more permanent disabilities.

The disability could be a physical disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability.

These two concessions, funded by the government at an expected cost of S$50 million a year, will start on 6 July.

About 400,000 LWWs and 50,000 PWDs are expected to benefit from the two schemes.

Applications for WTCS and PWD concession cards will open on 6 April.

Eligible applicants for both concession schemes will receive an application package from around 6 April informing them about the details of the concession schemes, and how to apply, as well as details of the interim financial assistance that will be provided to them.