Up, up and away

It is said that there is no certainty in life except death and taxes. Well, in Singapore, you can add public transport fare increases. And that's because there is a formula that stipulates such adjustments EVERY year, no matter if the public transport operators provide good and efficient services. This includes an age-old bugbear, which is the timely arrival of buses and their frequencies. Just yesterday, a friend of mine complained of dreading travelling to work because only one bus service plies the route near where she works and she has had to board the second or even the third bus because the first/second one that comes along will simply be too packed to board.

And here, you have the Public Transport Council (PTC) deciding in favour of the transport operators, namely SBS Transit and SMRT, to increase fares across the board by 1%. You might think that 1% is not a whole lot compared to the 2.8% that was asked by the operators, but for any service which falls short frequently, 1% is a percent too much. Is it any coincidence that SMRT, the subway operator, just announced a massive increase in the number of trains that will be put into operation to address the problem of congestion? Why in the first place did the congestion come about? Some people were 'sleeping', right? Well, let's see. Don't count your chicks before they are hatched. Probably only in Singapore do you have a situation where a vendor is allowed to increase prices BEFORE any improvement can be seen and felt by its customers in its services. Yep, Singapore is really business friendly country. Customers? They are there to milk them dry. Commuters have no choice at all as they have to commute to work to earn a living.

But the operators would protest that oil prices have increased, which has eaten into their profits. Coupled with that the increase in their manpower cost, and moreover, there is the annual price adjustment formula (which always works out to an increase), all of which justify asking for the 2.8%. Cost pressures from oil prices? Come on, which business is not adversely affected by oil price increases? And when oil prices decreases, you don't hear from these same public transport operators.

Manpower cost? Every business has manpower cost issues. Apparently, SBSTransit's and SMRT's perennial solution is to charge its commuters higher fares. I wished that some independent party can audit these companies' operations to discover if there are not areas in which manpower cost can be lowered, or if there are not inefficiencies that are not being addressed. The certainly of increasing fares annually, and lack of real competition (mandated by the government, no less) provide no incentive for the operators to do anything about lowering manpower costs. To hedge their bets, they can just 'mark up' the fare increase requested for, have the PTC lower and approve it, and SBSTransit and SMRT can laugh all the way to the bank. Oh sure, they will say that they have improved one thing or another, but they would not have had to try hard enough. Why is it paying its CEO millions of dollars annually if manpower costs are so dire? To these public transport operators, I say, deal with it, and don't beg for more to pay your CEO even more every year.

The PTC claims that public transport fare prices have, on aggregate, decreased between 2008 and 2010 by 3.4%. And what do you know, services have gone from bad to worse within these same years. Sometimes I wonder if the authorities are so fixated on numbers that they miss this point - the real value or lack of it, to the commuting public, which makes it so difficult for long-suffering commuters to swallow a fare increase, however slight, or seemingly well justified. Perhaps its members who sit in judgement never take public transport often enough?

I truly look forward to the day when an increase in public transport fares will be accepted because commuters have seen the value that these operators have given them, and not the pain of the daily commute. Sadly, that day has yet to come. With things as they are, that day may very well never come. After all, I have been waiting all my life...

See also: 1 percent transport fare hike sparks debate online

Fair revision?

The Great Singapore Transport Fare Sales!
Up to 4.6% Fare Reduction
Hurry, limited time only*
Everywhere must go

Well, the transport fare revision is finally out, and it is going to kick in in April 2009. But it is good only for one year, up till 30April 2010. How typical of the PTC and the public transport companies to set a time cap. This fare revision almost looks like a great transport fare sale. The smart copy writer who came up with the travel ad "The world is on sale, everywhere must go" could have anticipated this Great Singapore Transport Fare Sales.

We are used to Robinson's sales, and Metro (no, not the transport type in this case) sales, etc., but an SBSTransit / SMRT sales is on for a year? So should I rush to take more bus and train rides, just so that I enjoy the sales discounts, no matter that I really don't need to get from point x to point y, just like what many people do when retailers put up sales promotions and people just buy up the discounted products when they really don't need the products on sales?

And please don't tell me the public transport companies are sacrificing $xx million here and there as if they are doing anybody a favour. After more than 30 years in the public transport business, they still haven't really gotten their act together. Otherwise why do you think that people continue to be willing to pay an arm and a leg for private transport?

* promotion ends 30 April 2010

Fair fares

It has arrived! The next round of public transport fare increases has been announced and they are set to take effect from 1 Oct 2008. The facts are all here. Nobody likes fare increases, except perhaps the public transport companies and their shareholders. So every time these announcements are made, Singaporeans wait with bated breadth - ready to pounce on why the regulators and transport operators have got it all wrong, that they are profiteering, especially in times where inflation seen to be running ahead of everyone.

Over the last couple of years, however, Singaporean's have been prepared for more smaller increases in transport fares so that objections would not be so vocal, and it isn't all that vocal now. Personally, I find the fare revision this time to be fair and, more importantly, fact-based. The PTC, under Mr Gerard Ee, has done a great job of dissecting the issues and looking up the books to come out with a justifiable fare revision. Not everyone needs to pay more. Those who take longer journeys with multiple transfers will see their transport fares reduced. On the other hand, those traveling shorter distances will pay more. Yet the net effect of these revisions will see the transport companies gain a couple of percentage points more in terms of revenue. I appreciate that benchmarks such as ROTA (Return on Total Assets) was used to prove to one and all (including the transport executives) where the transport companies stood in terms of profitability. It takes away the perception that the transport companies are always out to make a killing whenever it increased fares. And the paper does recognise that certain groups of people will still find the increases difficult.

This is what the PTC should be about. Looking into the transport issues in a holistic manner, neither seeking to advantage one over another. My erstwhile bad impression of the PTC was seared into my mind (and I believe most of the rest of Singaporean's mind) when, under its previous Chairman, commuters were always left high and dry. Then, whenever there was a fare increase, the then Chairman of the PTC will speak out FOR the transport companies without fail, to defend the need for a fare increase - viz - its been a long time since the last increase, operating costs have gone up, labour cost have risen, etc. etc. It was always the same refrain, so much so that what should be reasons for fare increases have become excuses for it.

When the PTC does not speak up for the long suffering commuters, who will? The MPs were largely ineffective in protecting the interests of its commuting public too. And the government? Well, there's the PTC where transport matters are concerned. But to be fair, the government did define a more predictable formula for transport fare increases and change the Chairman for the better.

So thank you, Mr Gerard Ee. Truly you have continued the good work of your father in looking out for the less fortunate among us.