MRT, bus fares for adults to increase by up to 10 cents from Dec 27

SINGAPORE – Train and bus fares for adult passengers will increase by nine or 10 cents a journey, depending on the distance travelled, as overall public transport fares climb by 5 per cent.

Concessionary fares for seniors, students, people with disabilities and low-wage workers will rise by three or four cents, the Public Transport Council (PTC) said on Oct 14 following its annual fare review.

The 5 per cent rise in 2025 is gentler than the increases in 2024 (6 per cent) and 2023 (7 per cent).

PTC added that it has adopted a new reference period for future fare adjustments. This change allows cost factors, such as energy prices and wages, to be considered with a shorter lag, thus reducing the delay between operators experiencing cost changes and new fares taking effect.

From Dec 27, adult card fares will go up by nine cents for trips of up to 17.2km, while those who travel farther will pay 10 cents more.

For example, an MRT ride from Tanah Merah to Tanjong Pagar, which are 14km apart, will cost $2.02 – up from $1.93.

The same adult passenger heading to Jurong East – a 26.2km ride – will pay $2.42 instead of $2.32.

For the two million or so people in the concessionary groups, fares will rise by three cents for journeys of between 3.3km and 7.2km, and by four cents for longer trips.

This means that a senior riding the MRT from Tanah Merah to Paya Lebar, which are 6.1km apart, will pay 94 cents instead of 91 cents. The same passenger going to Jurong East will pay $1.07, up from $1.03.

Concessionary fares for short journeys of up to 3.2km will be unchanged. More than a third of concessionary trips are 3.2km or less, and keeping fares level for such trips will benefit concession-card holders who make short trips to schools, workplaces or amenities, said PTC.

Passengers taking express buses, which charge a premium over basic bus services, are also set to pay higher fares.

The fare difference between express and regular bus services has not changed since distance-based fares were rolled out in 2010.

Express buses, including City Direct Services, cut travel times from the heartland to city areas and key employment centres.

To account for the higher cost of running express bus services, PTC said adult passengers will

pay between 49 and 50 cents more for an express bus ride

. This comprises the basic fare increase of up to 10 cents, and a 40-cent premium for express bus services.

Concessionary groups will pay 20 to 24 cents more, comprising the basic increase of up to four cents and a 20-cent premium.

For instance, an adult who now pays $2.37 for a 10km express bus ride will fork out $2.86 from Dec 27. A senior who now forks out $1.48 for the same ride will pay $1.72.

Cash fares for public buses will rise by 20 cents for adults, 10 cents for seniors and people with disabilities, and five cents for students.

PTC last raised cash fares in 2023. Fewer than 1 per cent of all public transport trips are paid for in cash.

Support for passengers

To help heavy public transport users, the prices of monthly travel passes for adults, seniors and people with disabilities will come down by 5 per cent from Dec 27.

Adults will pay $122 for a monthly pass, down from $128. Seniors and people with disabilities will pay $55 instead of $58. Low-wage workers under the Workfare Transport Concession Scheme can get a monthly pass for $92 instead of $96.

Around 155,000 passengers could benefit from these reduced prices, said PTC.

To help defray the fare increases, the Ministry of Transport and the People’s Association said the Government will provide public transport vouchers worth $60 each to households with a monthly income of up to $1,800 a person. Each household will get one voucher that can be used to top up fare cards or buy monthly passes.

PTC said fares remain affordable.

It noted that households in the 21st to 40th percentile – or typical public transport users – spent an average of 1.7 per cent of their monthly income on public transport in 2024, compared with 2.2 per cent in 2015.

Lower-income households in the 11th to 20th percentile spent about 2.4 per cent of their income on public transport in 2024, down from 3.1 per cent in 2015.

The nine- or 10-cent increase in 2025 is similar to the 10-cent rise in 2024. In 2023, fares rose by up to 11 cents – the steepest rise on record.

Fares increased by up to five cents in 2022 and up to four cents in 2021. PTC, which regulates fares, froze fares in 2020 to help the public cope with the impact of Covid-19.

The council said the cost of living remains a concern for Singaporeans, and it decided on a 5 per cent increase in 2025 to cushion the impact of the fare rise.

This is below the allowable hike of 14.4 per cent – comprising a 1.5 per cent adjustment for 2025 and a 12.9 per cent increase deferred from the 2024 exercise. A part of yearly fare adjustments can be deferred to future exercises to soften the impact on passengers, with the Government providing extra subsidies to cover the shortfall.

Lower inflation and a drop in energy prices moderated the 2025 adjustment, said PTC.

The Government will provide more than $200 million in extra subsidies in 2026 to cover the remaining increase of 9.4 per cent, which will be rolled over to future fare review exercises.

This is in addition to the more than $2 billion in subsidies it pumps in yearly to keep public transport services running, and extra funding of up to $900 million that will be spent between 2024 and 2032 to improve the bus network under the

Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme

.

PTC chairwoman Janet Ang told reporters the wages of public transport workers have to keep pace with the cost of living and reflect their contributions.

The council will, therefore, continue to ensure fare changes keep up with the cost of operating and maintaining the system, while making gradual adjustments so the impact on passengers is manageable, she said at a press conference.

New reference period for fare changes

The new reference period for fare adjustments is expected to make the formula more responsive to cost changes.

Previously, PTC used data from January to December of the year before the fare review, with any fare changes taking effect the next December. From 2026, the reference period for the cost factors considered – including energy prices – will be the 12 months between July of the previous year and June of the year in which the review is taking place.

“This change means that fares can be updated on a timelier basis to reflect cost changes, reducing the gap from one year to about six months,” said the council.

As a one-off transition to the new reference period, PTC used data over 18 months – from January 2024 to June 2025 – in deciding on the fare adjustment for 2025.

Transport operators SBS Transit Rail and SMRT Trains applied for the full 14.4 per cent hike in 2025, citing pressures from rising costs in areas such as maintenance and a competitive labour market, as well as slow and uncertain ridership recovery.

PTC said it would require both operators to contribute 20 per cent of their expected fare revenue increase to the Public Transport Fund, which helps households cope with fare increases.

This works out to $3.5 million for SBS Transit Rail and $7.1 million for SMRT Trains.

SMRT Trains noted that the 2025 fare adjustment was lower than that of 2024, with a “substantial portion of the increase deferred to future years”.

“While we understand that this approach aims to ease financial pressures arising from living costs and uncertainties in global trade, at the same time, there is a need for PTC to support the financial sustainability of public transport operators, so that they can continue to invest in reliable, safe and efficient services for commuters,” SMRT Trains president Lam Sheau Kai wrote on Facebook.

SBS Transit said it applied for the adjustment to offset the rising costs of running its rail systems.

“In particular, manpower costs in a competitive labour market and higher maintenance expenses are our main cost drivers,” said its spokeswoman Grace Wu.

Transport economist Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences said PTC’s decision to distribute the fare rises over several years means passengers may continue to face similar increases down the line as the deferred hikes are cleared.

Likening this approach to “death by a thousand cuts”, Associate Professor Theseira wondered if a bigger increase could have been allowed, so subsequent increases would be smaller.

Commuter Cheong Luck Sien, 30, said the latest fare increase was a “necessary evil”, given the need to fund infrastructure and transport workers’ salaries.

“As long as my wages keep going up, I am okay with the fare hike,” said the business analyst.