Tag: Lui Tuck Yew

Public Transport Fare Set To Increase Again: “Review” Underway

The Public Transport Council (PTC) on Wednesday (Nov 19) announced it has started the annual fare review exercise.

Public transport operators may submit their applications for fare review to the PTC for consideration by Dec 19. The decision will be announced in the first quarter of 2015, according to the press release.

Responding to media queries, SMRT’s Vice-President for Corporate Information and Communications Patrick Nathan said: “We seek a better alignment of fares and operating costs, and will be submitting our application for a fare review in the coming weeks.”

To evaluate applications robustly, the PTC will take guidance from the fare review mechanism and fare adjustment formula recommended by the Fare Review Mechanism Committee and accepted by the Government in Nov 2013.

The new fare adjustment formula is now based on core inflation (excluding property and car prices), average wage increase and an energy component.

“This will ensure a good balance between meeting the needs of the commuting public and keeping the public transport system financially sustainable. In discharging its responsibilities, the PTC will pay particular attention to fare affordability for the more vulnerable groups of commuters,” the PTC said.

Public transport fares were last adjusted in Apr 2014 as part of the 2013 fare review. There was a fare increase of 3.2 per cent – just half of the total fare cap of 6.6 per cent. It means the remaining 3.4 per cent will be brought forward to this year’s fare review exercise.

Mr Cedric Foo, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, said: “If you look at the new formula, it has a new component called the Energy Index and that constitutes 20 per cent of the formula.

“As we have seen lately, fuel prices are coming down. Therefore, they hope that if you apply this formula, and core inflation is also not high, wage inflation is also not high, they hope that this may be zero or even negative. So I am hopeful that the full 3.4 per cent rollover from last year will not be implemented in full.”

INSULATING VULNERABLE GROUPS

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew commented on the fare review exercise, stating that public transport must continue to be affordable for all Singaporeans.

“I hope that the Public Transport Council will study if we can insulate vulnerable groups such as senior citizens from a fare increase, or at least mitigate the impact on them,” he wrote. “In the same regard, the Ministry of Transport will also study how we can similarly enhance the concession schemes Government introduced for lower-wage workers and persons with disabilities earlier this year.

Mr Lui added that this exercise builds on the improvements of last year’s fare review, and he has received “positive feedback” from Singaporeans who have benefited from new and enhanced travel concession schemes.

These include monthly concession passes for polytechnic students, and the introduction of the Adult Monthly Travel Pass, which frequent commuters can purchase to cap their transport expenditure.

“I hope the PTC can consider not raising the prices of these travel passes,” wrote Mr Lui. “I have also asked the Land Transport Authority to study whether we can strengthen our ongoing travel demand management efforts, and encourage more commuters to travel during the off-peak hours. Perhaps the Government can introduce off-peak monthly passes; which should also help reduce the travel expenditure for this group of commuters.”

Still, Mr Foo said that one still has to look at the overall trend of fare increases: “If you look at it over the last six years, actually the compound annual growth rate in fare is well below half a per cent.

“If we look at wages, wages have clearly increased by more than half a per cent at each point. So, in the context of long-term fare trend, fare increases cannot remain at zero for good. That’s unrealistic because it’s not sustainable. But let me stress at even if there is a modest increase in fares, we have to look after the vulnerable groups.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

November 20, 2014
New Global Navigation Satellite System in Place of ERP

A new road pricing system that relies on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology can help traffic management in many ways, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Monday (Nov 3), who told Parliament that it would not financially prudent to continue with the current Electronic Road Pricing gantry system in the long term.

GNSS technology allows for distance-based pricing along congested roads, thus making it more equitable for motorists, Mr Lui said. Under such a system, every vehicle becomes a sensor, which will allow the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to develop a more accurate picture of the traffic situation and intervene if necessary.

The LTA can then broadcast this data to motorists to help them plan their journeys and avoid congested roads, he said. This data will also be aggregated and anonymised – which means it will not infringe on the privacy of motorists. LTA is planning to implement the system by around 2020, he noted.

Mr Lui was speaking in response to questions posed by MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Zainal Sapari about the new road pricing system.

Last month, the LTA called a tender to develop this system; the tender is still ongoing, Mr Lui said. What is clear is that maintaining the current gantry system – in place since 1998 – will not be financially prudent, he added.

“The annual operating cost has risen by 80 per cent over the last decade, and a large part of the system is coming to the end of its cycle, and it will have to be replaced, even if we do not move to a GNSS-based system,” said Mr Lui, adding that physical gantries also take up land that could otherwise be freed up for more roadside greenery.

But Mr Lui cautioned that while a GNSS-based road pricing system may improve traffic management, it alone cannot ensure that Singapore’s roads continue to be relatively smooth-flowing.

The minister said this would require a holistic approach involving vehicle growth, population controls, as well as enhancing and promoting public transport

Source: http://news.asiaone.com

November 4, 2014
18,000 Commuters Affected in 9-Hour Train Breakdown

SINGAPORE — Train services between Punggol and Sengkang MRT stations were disrupted for nine hours yesterday, in what was the longest breakdown on the North-East Line (NEL) since the record 12-hour delay in March 2012.

Yesterday’s disruption, which took place between 6am and 3pm, affected about 18,000 commuters. Initially, train services between three stations — Punggol, Sengkang and Buangkok — were hit and scores of commuters fanned out of the stations to bus stops and taxi stands. At about 8am, trains were turned around at Sengkang station, enabling service between Sengkang and HarbourFront stations.

NEL operator SBS Transit said the disruption was due to a power fault caused by a dislocation of the cantilever arms holding the contact wire of the power supply line at the tunnels near Punggol station. As a result, power supply to the trains was cut off. This is the first time the arms have dislodged, added SBS Transit.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it would carry out an investigation into the cause and the operator’s management of the incident, which was criticised by some commuters, in contrast to the praise SBS Transit received from commuters and Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew in the aftermath of the March 2012 disruption.

Student Chia Yao Le, 19, was among the commuters who were affected yesterday. She ended up half an hour late for school. She said the service staff deployed did not know where the queues for the free shuttle buses started. “It was confusing with so many people.”

Another commuter, Mr Joke Jong, said he noticed only one sign that was placed outside the train station. The 31-year-old Indonesian said: “There were a lot of people queuing for the shuttle buses … people were asking around for where to start queuing.”

Mr Mohammad Faruq Senin, 23, and Mr Matthew Yeo, 21, both Nanyang Technological University undergraduates, were stuck at Sengkang station for a while before they gave up waiting to board a free shuttle bus. “The queues were very long,” said Mr Yeo.

Addressing commuters’ feedback, SBS Transit’s senior vice-president of corporate communications, Ms Tammy Tan, said when the disruption happened, the operator immediately instructed all its Goodwill Ambassadors to head to affected stations. “It, however, took some time for all our Goodwill Ambassadors to reach the various stations and this might have affected information dissemination on the ground. We deeply apologise to all commuters affected,” she said.

SBS Transit said more than 70 Goodwill Ambassadors and traffic inspectors were sent to assist commuters, while more than 20 engineers were involved in the recovery work.

Checks were also conducted to ensure safe operations before full service resumed, it added. The operator said it is conducting detailed investigations to determine the cause of the fault.

Almost 40 shuttle buses were in operation during the disruption, while commuters were able to board public bus services for free at designated bus stops near the affected stations.

This is the fourth major disruption on the NEL this year. In April, train services towards Punggol station were delayed for almost an hour due to a power fault, while on March 29, a stalled train at Clarke Quay station disrupted services by 40 minutes. Eight days before that, a power fault delayed services for more than half an hour along nine stations.

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/9-hour-nel-breakdown-hits-18000?page=1

YOUTUBE: youtube.com/user/rilek1corner

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/rilek1corner

TWITTER: twitter.com/Rilek1Corner

WEBSITE: rilek1corner.com

EMAIL: [email protected]

FEEDBACK: CONTACT RILEK1CORNER

August 22, 2014