The Big Story: Can bigger fare discounts reduce morning peak-hour MRT congestion?

Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

We’ve all been there: trying to squeeze into the MRT during morning peak-hour. But, would you wake up earlier to avoid the crowd and save money on public transport?

If you’re willing to shift your travel schedules to avoid the morning rush hour, you might be looking at receiving up to 80% in fare discounts.

This is part of efforts to better manage peak-hour crowding on buses and trains, especially in north-east Singapore. It is also part of a planned refresh of the Travel Smart Journeys scheme, which will cover more bus services than it did before.

So, can this newly refreshed incentive scheme reduce the morning peak-hour MRT congestion in Singapore? And more importantly, will it help to really change public transport users’ behaviours?

On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Dr Ong Ghim Ping Raymond, Associate Professor and Deputy Head (Research) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore to find out.

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