Commuters to bear the brunt of transport cost hikes

Better to be prepared, says analyst.

According to OCBC, it is unperturbed by the Transport Minister's decision to delay the submission of the Fare Review Mechanism Committee's report to end-May because i) our projections already factor in price increases from mid-2QCY13, and ii) broad-based fare increases will still materialise. 

"Although the reason for the delay is to facilitate further study of the impact of fare increases on low-income families and/or dependent groups (e.g. polytechnic students), wording in recent speeches and reiterations by the Transport Minister have been clear that commuters should be prepared to bear some of the cost increases especially after the fact that current fares have been kept affordable over recent years at the expense of public transport operators," OCBC said.