This forum letter appear in today's The Straits Times. The writer claimed that the new Distance fare calculator has some discrepancy over the way it charges passengers taking MRT. The claim is that with Distance fare, passengers should be charged the shortest route in MRT network. The wider question is should passengers have the flexibility of choosing where they transfer in the MRT network, thereby allowing them to reap the benefits of a shorter journey and hence lower fares.
While Distance fare aligned the fare charging to the distance travelled instead of the previous fare stages for buses, such is not applicable for MRT network. The fare charging for MRT network has always been on a fix one charge amount for any pair of station entry and exit. This stems from the spirit that the MRT network is an integrated and seamless one. As there are no intermediate fare gates in the system to record the path that the passengers choose, the only way is to charge them based on the most logical route that they would have take. The discrepancy stems from the way the logical route is determined.
From the two scenarios that the writer presented below, it seemed that there are some interesting anecdoctes that we can draw to help explain the 'illogical' way that fare is calculated for MRT network.
- For the first case from Brash Basah to Serangoon, the logical route charged is via a direct train on Circle Line (11.4km) instead of a transfer at Dhoby Ghaut (which would give a fare distance of between 5km and 8.6km).
- For the second case, from Paya Lebar to Dhoby Ghaut, the logical route charged is charged via a transfer at City Hall (6.8km) rather than a direct train on Circle Line (7.4km)
As I've explained, there is only one fare charged for any single entry and exit in the MRT network. While the writer advocates charging purely by distance, the current system apparently does not do so. What are the other ways of charging? By shortest travel time? By least number of transfers? By train path with the least crowded train? You're welcome to share your thoughts here.
Distance fare calculation glitches
WITH the impending changeover to distance fares on Saturday, I have been using the distance fares calculator provided by the Land Transport Authority to calculate fares.
While on it, I have noticed a discrepancy in the way train fares are calculated. In certain situations, it calculates a longer but direct trip even though a shorter route exists.
Take for example, a trip from Bras Basah to Potong Pasir, Serangoon and Kovan stations. A trip to Potong Pasir is 5km away and Kovan is 8.6km away. One would expect Serangoon station, situated between Potong Pasir and Kovan stations, to be between 5km and 8.6km away.
However, the calculator gives a distance of 11.4km by virtue of a direct train line between Serangoon and Bras Basah stations.
A quick calculation shows that the shorter distance should be 7.2km. The excess 4.2km given by the calculator means an overcharge in the fare by 34 cents.
From Paya Lebar to Dhoby Ghaut, the reverse occurs. A shorter trip of 6.8km is calculated on the East-West line with a subsequent transfer on the North-South Line instead of the 7.4km direct trip on the Circle Line.
With buses, commuters can choose to transfer for a cheaper fare or take a direct bus with a higher fare. With the train network, there is no such option.
The above examples show that in some cases, the cheaper fare with transfers is charged, and in others, the higher but direct fare is charged. This discrepancy should be eliminated.
Yusry Harfuddin
Source: 29 June 2010, The Straits Times
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6 comments:
Hopefully this is only sloppy programming on the web interface. Otherwise it would be a very serious bug if the actual fare system works that way.
If the web calculator is correct, it will cost more to go to Serangoon station than Kovan even though Serangoon is in between PP and Kovan:
Potong Pasir $1.06
Serangoon $1.58
Kovan $1.46
Serangoon residents are going to be extremely pissed if it turns out that it costs more to get off at Serangoon station than Kovan station simply because Serangoon is an interchange with Circle Line.
Curiously, it's cheaper to go to Lorong Chuan station than Bartley or Serangoon stations:
Bartley $1.50
Serangoon $1.58
Lorong Chuan $1.40
Looks iike LTA still has some work to do in figuring out this distance-based fare thing. At the end of the day, distance-based fares were never about "fairness" they were just means to force Singaporeans into the planners' cherished hub-and-spoke model.
Hi Xiaojun, I believe the fare that you quoted is the correct one being charged. I do have a sensing why there is a discrepancy, but I won't be able to detail them here until the authorities reveal more.
I'm just playing devil's advocate here (not suggesting I concur with this). Since Serangoon residents enjoy a direct journey on MRT train without having to transfer between MRT lines, would it be fair that they are being charged higher for this added convenience? :-)
This is simply a ''FARE INCREASE'' from 3 July 2010. Poor Singaporeans... got to suffer under the Government's hands again as they implemented this so called 'Distance Fare' system. Now we got to pay more for less, I think I got to make plan for emigration soon.. Else, my hard-earned money will soon be drained out by Singapore Government!!!
they totally shouldnt count by travel time!
it would be really unfair to those who are waiting for their friends INSIDE the mrt station. well, not everyone live at the same place right?
for example, for me, i wait for my friend who lives at sengkang in the hougang mrt daily.
if the transport fee is counted by the time, wont we spend alot on transport?
the government is encouaging us to take public transport and all, but with the cost of it being so high, who can afford to take it?
espically in the case of students. they already do not have enough to spend; they have to spend much more on transport now. they no longer have the standard fare. students dont work. where would they have the money for transport?
you might say from parents. but they are also spending alot. their children try to save money for them; but how can they now?
I use to pay 0.69 cents for my travel. Now I'm paying 0.91 cents, a whopping 30% increase.
I hope that the Singapore Land tranport Authority will look into
this new Fare distance whether it
disadvantage the majority of the commuter.
Here is a portion of a survey taken from a website " http://sgjobs.blogspot.com/" ,it may not be accurate but I will encourage the authority to release statistics of similar studies
yhat is more scientific and factual.
Out of the 42 voted, 41 have an increase in their fare. Mind you the % increase is an imaginable.
5% to > 20%.
But this is nuts. There's no way to get to Kovan station from Bras Basah without passing through Serangoon station. LTA seems to be saying I should ride the train one extra stop and then walk back to save 12 cents.
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