http://news.insing.com/tabloid/no-to-public-transport-fare-hikes-until-services-improve/id-bb6e3f00
Liang Eng Hwa, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Holland-Bukit Timah ward, urged the Singapore Government to freeze any plans to raise public transport fare until commuters are able to see that service and operating standards have improved.
He noted that operating costs may have gone up for public transport operators, chiefly SMRT and SBS Transit, but this is from the companies’ perspective.
The public and transport users may not see it that way, he said, adding that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the transport operators have not delivered their duty in providing reliable and convenient public transport, Channel NewsAsia reported.
NO DRIVERS AVAILABLE
Liang further pointed out that it has been a trying experience working with the transport providers, saying that each request that was put in to improve bus services would often end up as long drawn-out discussions and that the operators would ultimately say that they had no drivers to increase bus services.
He also told the House that he hoped the Transport Ministry would move away from using two public transport operators and tap on more private operators to help expand bus capacity. The Government should not waste time on the public transport operators if they cannot increase bus capacity fast enough.
ADVERTISING REVENUE
Separately, TODAY newspaper reported that to help the public bus operators cope with rising costs, the Government has allowed them to retain a portion of the advertising licensing fees (previously not given) from billboards at bus stops with effect from financial year 2012.
So for the financial year 2012, SBS Transit is expected to get around S$13 million and SMRT, S$5 million from advertising revenue.
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