Just a few days ago, the SBS transit decided to review this matter. Here is the article:
Close to 5,200 tertiary students have signed a petition for lower public transport fares.
They say it is unfair they have to pay 80 per cent more in fares compared to students in junior colleges and institutes of technical education.
Times are tough, and in light of the financial burden that their parents are shouldering during the economic downturn, a group of tertiary students came together last November to petition for cheaper fares.
Not only are they taking to the streets to collect signatures, they are also doing it online.
Polytechnic student Charlene Teo said: “We’re only students and we don’t get a lot of pocket money….so we hope the government can review the fares for us.”
A bus concession pass for junior college students costs $27.50 a month and for polytechnic students $52 (89 per cent difference).
A train concession pass for junior college students costs $25 monthly and for polytechnic students $45 (80 per cent difference).
The Transport Ministry says concession fares are granted by the public transport operators.
But the government is encouraging operators to look into this matter.
Earlier this week, the students had a meeting with the Public Transport Council and operators.
Bernard Chen, a polytechnic student and the organiser of the petition, said: “We were pleasantly surprised to know that they actually wanted to initiate a meeting with us. So I think this is a very positive step forward for activism and civil society in general.”
At the meeting, the students proposed that tertiary students should pay not more than 60 per cent of what junior college students are paying.
They also asked operators to come up with a mechanism to determine the fare subsidy for tertiary students.
In the past, public transport operators have been reluctant to increase subsidies for tertiary students.
SMRT had said that all concessionary fares are effectively cross-subsidised by full-fare paying commuters.
Thus, they need to exercise prudence in granting further travel concession beyond the present arrangement, so as to avoid any adverse impact on full-fare paying commuters.
Train concession prices have remained unchanged for more than 10 years since 1997, while the last revision for bus concession fares was in 2002.
Responding to Channel NewsAsia’s queries, both SMRT and SBS Transit said they will be lowering fares for commuters this year.
SBS Transit said the fare reduction will include the fares for tertiary students, while SMRT said it is still considering the matter.
Details will be out later this month.
However... this won't be enough yet till we get the fees we want. The petition is here. And we seek you to go directly to this website and sign it. http://www.petition4fairtransport.org/the-petition/ and join these 2 facebook groups:
All full-time students in Singapore are eligible to purchase monthly concession passes. However, full time matriculated Polytechnic/ Tertiary students are treated differently vis-à-vis Junior College (JC) students and students from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
Bus Concession Pass (unlimited travel on basic fare bus services for one month)
$27.50 - JC pays
$52 - Poly Pays
89% - Difference in pricing
Train Concession Pass (up to 4 rides per day on the MRT/LRT for one month
$25 - JC Pays
$45 - Poly Pays
80% - Difference in Pricing
Hybrid Concession Pass (combination of Bus and Train Concession Pass)
$52.50 - JC Pays
$97 - Poly Pays
84% - Difference in Pricing
We feel it is grossly and greatly unfair for polytechnic/tertiary students’ to pay as much as 89% more in terms of transport fares than their peers in JCs and ITEs. This also constitutes a heavy financial burden for families; especially those lower, middle income ones with at least a child in a polytechnic/ tertiary institution. At a time of belt-tightening in expenditure, every little concessation will go a long way to cut expenses for households already strapped with high living costs. Please add your experiences, thoughts and suggestions in the comment field when siging the petition so that we can pass them on.
Petition:
We, the undersigned, call upon transport operators, Transitlink & the Public Transport Council (PTC) to consider providing fair transportation fares to all local polytechnic/ tertiary students, under the age of 25 who are pursuing a full time diploma/ degree from approved tertiary institutions. We like to call on the relevant operators to refrain from selectively discriminating groups of students based on their choice and level of academic pursuit and the institutions of enrolment.
Polytechnic (price bandwidth between 0 – 25%)
Public Universities – NUS, NTU, SMU, SIM (price bandwidth between 25% - 40%)
Private Educational Institutions (60% or more)
Revised Chart
Bus
$27.50 - $34.50 - Poly
$34.50 - $38.25 - Public Universities
$44 - Private Instiutions
MRT
$25 - $31.25 - Poly
$31.25 - $35 - Public Universities
$40 - Private Instiutions
Hybrid
$52.50 - $65.60 - Poly
$65.60 - $73.50 - Public Universities
$84 -Private Institutions
SIGN AND BE PART OF THIS MASS PETITION IN THE WHOLE OF SINGAPORE! We seek your cooperation and I hope i get this with effect of my last year in Singapore Polytechnic in April 2009!
This is Lord Ultimate Deep Signing off.
