LTA extends free pre-peak travel by another year

65,000 commuters benefit from the promo daily.

More good news await free peak commuters as the the Land Transport Authority extends free pre-peak travel by another year until 30 June 2017.

According to a press release by the LTA, more than 100 organisations have joined the Travel Smart Network since its launch on 1 August 2014.

“Since the scheme began, LTA has seen a sustained 7% shift in commuters travelling out of the peak hours (based on commuters exiting from the 18 designated stations),” the LTA said.

The Travel Smart Network has largely been effective during its run, as its has encouraged a total of 14,500 commuters to shift out of the 8am to 9am peak period over the entire MRT network. This translates to almost 10 train loads of passengers during the peak period.

Meanwhile, companies have also encouraged their employees to travel off-peak with LTA’s #wetravelsmart challenge where 95 companies took part in the challenge, with Ubisoft and Rajah & Tann emerging as winners.

Companies have also started to use creative ways to encourage off-peak travel for their employees.

“Some examples include an ez-link card access system that allows employees to arrive at work early without having to wait for their offices to be manually unlocked, and localised air coolers for employees who arrive in the office before the central air-conditioning is turned on,” the LTA said.

Additionally, apart from free pre-peak travel, another initiative to encourage commuters at-large to “Travel Smart” and commute off-peak is the Off-Peak Pass, which allows commuters to enjoy fare discounts when they travel outside peak period on bus and rail.