It would not be practical to include public transport operators’ quality of service in the fare formula as Singapore uses a unified fare structure for its transport system, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Lui was addressing feedback — including a call from the Workers’ Party — that the service quality component should have been included in the new fare formula that was proposed by the Fare Review Mechanism Committee (FRMC) in its report last week.

Mr Lui said that the FRMC’s aim was to keep the fare formula relatively straightforward. It would be “challenging to try to give differentiated fare increases to different public transport operators (PTOs) on account of service quality issues” due to the unified fare structure.

However, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam pointed out that many commuters associated service quality with their willingness to pay higher fares. Adding the service quality component, he felt, would spur operators to do better in terms of service.

In response, Mr Lui said this might lead to increased costs, which will then be directly passed on to commuters. “I suspect the PTOs (might) also say, well, what about the cost increases that are associated with any service quality improvements, would that also be included in the formula?”

He reiterated that not having service quality as part of the fare formula does not mean that we are not raising service levels, or that we are letting the public transport operators off easily.

He noted that the Public Transport Council can increase operating performance standards, which include service levels, for the transport operators, and the Government has also increased penalties for service lapses.