Comparison of Bus and Train Fares in Singapore and Major Cities

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Transport how do the bus and train fares in Singapore compare with those in other major cities in terms of fare per kilometre and percentage of monthly income.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew: If we look at a typical journey of, say, 10 km bus-only or train-only, such a journey would cost between about $1.15 and $1.42 in Hong Kong, $1.89 and $1.99 in Tokyo, and $2.23 and $2.98 in London. On the other hand, such a journey in Singapore costs 1 a commuter $1.27 on an air-con bus, or on the North-South-East-West Line, and $1.52 on the premium rail lines. For a 10-km journey that combines two 5-km trips on a bus and train, commuters in Singapore would not pay more because we have adopted a distance fare system. In contrast, a similar journey 2 with 5 km on bus and 5 km on train in other cities would typically cost more, for example, $2.11 in Hong Kong, $3.58 in Tokyo and $5.21 in London.

In short, our fares are significantly cheaper than those in London and Tokyo, and comparable to Hong Kong's for a bus-only or train-only journey, but, for journeys with transfers, we are cheaper. These figures are in Singapore dollars and have been adjusted for purchasing power parity.

Taking the typical public transport user household, that is, those in the second quintile of income distribution, such households spent an average of 2.6% of their monthly household income on public transport in 2012. Based on the latest figures we have, we estimate median income households in Hong Kong spent close to 4% of their household income on bus, train and tram fares in 2010 3 . This is prior to their fare increases by 2.2% in 2011, 5.4% in 2012 and 2.7% in 2013.

Nevertheless, we are mindful that average spending patterns of average income households are not necessarily reflective of the impact of public transport fares on all Singaporeans and, hence, we will also focus on what we can do to help the lower-income groups, as well as specific disadvantaged commuter groups, through various new and enhanced concession schemes.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 44:

1 Current fare levels, before the fare increase on 6 April 2014.

2 Based on 2013 fare levels of typical bus and rail trips in other cities.

3 Based on Hong Kong's 2011 Thematic Report of Household Income Distribution and 2010 Household Expenditure Survey Report.