Distance Fares

Recently, I have been too caught up in the World Cup fever to realise that 3 July has come and gone. Yes, 3 July is the day when distance fare is implemented for all our trips on trains and buses instead of the usual transfer rebates. The thing is, I have never understood how this distance fare works even after watching the explanation on the news a few times. The related authorities said that majority of the passengers will enjoy lower rates due to this new system while 30% (can't remember the exact figure but I think it is approximately this number) will see an increase in fares. Since I'm using train concession, I didn't really notice the implementation of this system until my sister came home one day and told me that her journey to Raffles Place from home now costs $1.67, from the previous fare of only $1.50+. I was shocked when I heard it! That's like an increase of more than 10cents! I then proceeded to check out the changes in fares for some other stations which I often travel to and found out that the fare from Pioneer to Jurong East is $1.01, to Clementi is $1.21, and it costs $1.73 to travel to Bugis!! If my memory doesn't fail me, I remembered that the old fare was also $1.50+, maximum $1.60 so this new fare indicates an increase of more than 10cents! Think of the number of people travelling to Raffles Place and other CBD areas everyday! Such a huge increase for a small number of people (according to LTA) sums up to a huge amount everyday!

From whatever I recall from the news a few months back, this new system works such that you pay for the distance travelled. The further you travel, the more you pay. The transfer rebates will no longer apply. I think this will probably be more beneficial to those who take buses since there is no way you can reduce the distance travelled by train.

However I really wonder if majority of the people will really enjoy lower rates like what they claimed. A shorter distance doesn't necessarily mean greater convenience or shorter time spent on travelling. I for one will prefer having one direct bus or train to take me to my destination rather than transferring multiple times as the bus or train you are transferring to does not come immediately after you alight from the previous one. Multiple transfers are really inconvenient as you can hardly do anything on the short journeys. You can't take a nap without fear of oversleeping and you have to keep squeezing with others when you board the next bus/train. In fact, for certain people, there may be a limited number of buses near where they live and these buses happen to bring them to their destination, albeit travelling a slightly longer distance. Does this mean that they have to pay a higher fare just because taking this single trip is more convenient than transferring to another bus which brings them to their destination using a shorter route? In my opinion, this is just a ploy to increase fares and this is what makes me mad. If you want to increase the fares, just say it straight out instead of disguising it in what appears to benefit passengers. It's like wrapping shit up really nicely and giving it to someone as a gift. I wonder who would appreciate it...

In fact, this also deters me from taking short distance bus trips since in the past, the transfer rebate of 50cents means that I only have to pay 19cents for the journey. However, I have no idea what I have to pay now.Perhaps those who benefitted from this new scheme can inform me so that I stop being so bitter about having to pay much higher fares for the same trip.