SINGAPORE: Train commuters in Singapore who exit 16 designated Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations in the city area before 7:45am on weekdays will be able to travel for free from 24 June.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is embarking on a one-year trial of a free pre-peak travel scheme to better spread passenger load on commuter trains in the mornings.
The 16 designated stations are Bugis, Chinatown, City Hall, Clarke Quay, Dhoby Ghaut, Lavender, Orchard, Outram Park, Raffles Place, Somerset, Tanjong Pagar, Bayfront, Bras Basah, Esplanade, Marina Bay and Promenade.
Those who may miss the cut-off time by just a few minutes can also save on fares.
The early travel discount of up to 50 cents which was originally applicable for travel before 7.45am will now be offered from 7.45am to 8am.
Currently, about 18,000 commuters exit the 16 stations in the half hour before 7.45am.
This goes up to 29,500 in the following half hour, and hits 83,000 between 8.15am and 9am.
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, who made the announcement during a visit to Raffles Place MRT station on Tuesday morning, said the trial will cost the government S$10 million.
He said: “I want to assure commuters that we do not intend to recover this S$10 million, so in future if there are any fare adjustments, it is not because we are trying to recover this S$10 million or whatever amount that we have to pay to fund this programme because the government will take care of this for the trial period.”
Mr Lui added he hopes the trial will generate a 10 to 20 per cent shift in travel demand.
He said: "We looked at the numbers and we say there is capacity to move, we felt that we needed to do something impactful for people to consider making that shift and also for employers to also come on board because more of their employees would want to benefit from this scheme.
"We hope that we can shift between 10 and 20 per cent of commuters. Those who are not able to shift, I think will also benefit because we expect that the trains will be less crowded during the peak hours if enough have shifted to travel earlier."
On concerns that free travel could create a new peak, Mr Lui gave the assurance that there's enough capacity on trains.
He said more trains can be added and run them at higher frequencies.
Mr Lui said: "We are also able to inject more trains if necessary, because the frequency - the intervals between trains now at about 7.30am is about 3 to 4 minutes, so there is potential to include more trains."
SMRT said it is working with the Land Transport Authority to work out the details and operational requirements in support of the trial. This will most likely include increasing the number of trains and deploying more staff to assist commuters during the pre-peak travel window.
Operators will not be bearing the costs of the trial.
Mr Lui said as concession schemes by operators are already being cross-subsidised by other commuters, the government has decided to foot the bill for free pre-peak travel.
LTA aims to get more employers to allow their employees to take advantage of the free travel scheme.
It has seen some success in its Travel Smart programme which helps organisations introduce measures that allow their employees to travel during off-peak periods.
Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo said: “We are seeing that the employers who have come on board, they have had good experiences. We need to capture how they are implementing more flexible work arrangements and how they are supporting their employees to travel smart so to speak and once we are able to collate these practices, we want to find opportunities to share it with a much wider pool of employers, so that they too can consider whether it is something they can do."
The MP who first floated the idea of free off-peak period travel on MRT in Parliament said he is glad that the government has adopted his suggestion.
Dr Janil Puthucheary, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said he hopes the scheme will be extended to the entire MRT network.
"But there's money involved, there's big money involved. And it's a big change and I think it's prudent to take a first step, see how the trial works out. And really, if no one changes their behaviour, then maybe we're going down the wrong path," he said.
"If this $10 million gets 20 per cent of our commuters to shift their behaviour, I think that's fairly good value for money. The question then comes - how much is it going to cost for the next step? The extra 10 per cent, or extra 5 per cent, or roll it out network wide? So that was the point that I was trying to make in the Budget speech, that this money is best spent in this sort of way."
- CNA/ck/de
News Source: Channel News Asia
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