Bus commuters owed $300k

BUS commuters have been overcharged some $300,000 since distance-based fares were implemented in July.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said this on Monday following an island-wide review of 6,600 bus-stop pairs. The errors occurred because the distances between 68 bus-stop pairs were measured wrongly.

On average, affected commuters were paying four cents more per journey for the last five months.

The LTA could not say how many commuters were affected but said 330,000 journeys were overcharged every week. Mistakes in distance calculation also resulted in bus companies losing out on $100,000 in fares. The distances between 30 pairs of bus-stops were recorded as shorter than their actual length.

As a result, some commuters paid an average of 5 cents less per journey than they should have on a total of 104,000 journeys a week. Said LTA's chief executive Chew Hock Yong: 'We sincerely apologise to the commuting public for this error. It should not have happened and we will ensure it does not happen again.'

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Refund claims

1. Bus services affected

*Check www.publictransport.sg for a list of affected bus stops and services

2. Confirm eligibility

*From Dec 18, commuters can find out if they are eligible for a refund at www.publictransport.sg or by calling 1800-225-5663. They must provide their 16-digit transit card number.

3. Getting a refund

*Commuters can visit any Transitlink ticket office or concession card replacement office with their transit cards.

*They can also get their money back at any add value machine found at bus interchanges and MRT stations.

*The money will be credited back to their cards

*They can apply for refunds till June 17 (2011).