No rush of students extending concession card validity on first day of exercise on Oct 1

SINGAPORE – Student Yap Jin Cheng was surprised when a message about a successful extension of the validity of his concession card popped up on the screen of a ticketing service kiosk at Bishan MRT station on Oct 1. He was just planning to top up his card.

The 16-year-old, who studies at Raffles Institution, had no idea why the message popped up and was not sure what it meant, since he has two more years left in his school’s six-year Integrated Programme and will graduate only at the end of 2026.

He found out later that Oct 1 was the first day that graduating students from secondary schools, junior colleges (JCs), polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) could visit ticketing or top-up machines at MRT stations and bus interchanges, or a ticketing counter,

to extend the validity of their concession cards

for four months after their studies.

They will be able to do so till Dec 31 and even after that, although the four-month extension will start from the end of their studies.

Like them, Secondary 4 students in the Integrated Programme in 2024 are required to extend their student concession card from Oct 1 to continue enjoying concessionary fares, similar to the practice for such students in previous years.

Jin Cheng was among a handful of students The Straits Times saw extending the validity of their concession cards across nine MRT stations on Oct 1.

The Public Transport Council (PTC), which regulates fares and ticket payment services, said 2,804 students extended their concessions on Oct 1.

The extension, announced in September,

will be available for graduating students whose concession eligibility ends on or after Dec 28, allowing them to continue paying concessionary fares on public buses and trains after they graduate.

Graduating students refer to those between two educational stages or transitioning out of student concessionary benefits, such as JC students going to university or graduates entering the workforce.

Before this move, secondary school graduates would need to pay adult fares before they progress to a JC, polytechnic or ITE, for instance. According to the PTC, an estimated 75,000 students will benefit from this measure every year as they can better manage the transition between their education stages.

In May, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat had asked the PTC to look into extending concessionary fares for graduating students, after receiving feedback from parents and students.

Students whom ST met were mostly unaware of this new measure or that they could start extending the validity of their cards on Oct 1.

Ms Esther Loh, 18, extended the validity of her card on Oct 1, as her parents had been sending her reminders from a few weeks back.

The Eunoia JC student was, however, unaware that Oct 1 was the first day that students were allowed to do so. She just happened to remember to do it when she was about to take the train home.

Ms Loh, whom ST met at Bishan station, added that many of her friends did not know about the measure.

She said the process to extend the validity of her concession card was “easy” as she just needed to place her card on the card reader of the ticketing kiosk, before a message informing her about the successful extension popped up automatically.

Anglo-Chinese JC student Karthiga Viswanathan, 18, told ST at Buona Vista station that she was similarly unaware of the measure, even though she would be graduating in December. But she welcomed the extension, as she would need to travel around for her part-time job after graduation.

Ms Karthiga said she would extend the validity of her concession card soon, so she can continue paying student fares for four more months, and ease her way into paying adult fares for three months before she enrols in university in August 2025.