BUS AND MRT FARES FOR STUDENTS

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Communications and Information Technology why is it that students from the polytechnics pay adult fares for rides on buses and on the MRT whereas those from junior colleges only pay student's concession rates, when both are of the same age and are students.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: The public transport operators grant concessionary travel to various groups of individuals, such as pre-school children, students and senior citizens, to help lower their cost of travelling. The privileges and types of concession offered differ from group to group.

The public transport operators have a different concessionary travel scheme for students in tertiary institutions compared to those in schools. The polytechnics are considered as tertiary institutions.

For tertiary students, the operators offer two types of concession schemes. The first is the monthly bus concession stamp, which allows the holder to take unlimited number of trips on buses for the month that he or she holds a valid stamp. The other is the monthly MRT concession ticket, which entitles the holder of a valid ticket to travel on the MRT and LRT systems up to 4 trips a day.

Thus, a tertiary student who makes extensive use of the public transport system can cut down his or her transport expenditure by making use of the available concession schemes.

Public transport operators are listed companies and need to earn a profit for their operations. At the urging of the public, they have granted concessions to various groups of people. However the more concessions that are granted, it would mean that other commuters would have to pay higher fares to make up the difference.