The government has raised public transport fares by 7 percent – the highest on record.
This means adult commuters who pay using cards will increase by up to 11 cents.
Adults paying cash for bus rides will have to pay 20 cents more.
Concessionary fares for seniors, students, people with disabilities and low-wage workers who pay by card will go increase by 4 cents for journeys of up to 4.2km, and 5 cents for longer rides.
Half of Singaporeans, or about 2 million commuters, are in this group.
Those who pay cash fares will see an increase of 10 cents.
This is the highest increase in 2019, where fares also rose by 7 percent.
Fares rose by 2.9 per cent in 2022 and 2.2 per cent in 2021.
Transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT had applied for the full 22.6 per cent hike in 2023, under the new fare formula, citing inflation and a tight labour market.
The Public Transport Council (PTC) decided against the full increase due to the current inflationary climate.
However, it said that the remaining increase of 15.6 per cent will be postponed to future fare review exercises.
PTC said this deferment was granted as the Government is providing an extra S$300 million in public transport subsidies in 2023, in addition to the more than S$2 billion in subsidies it already provides every year to keep services running.
