SMRT

[CityFarmer]

During a tour of the Tampines bus interchange yesterday (6 Dec), Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said that any fare adjustments made next year will have to factor in pay increases of bus drivers. And he said that the salaries of bus drivers will be raised.
He said, “There will have to be, I think, further adjustments to the salary scheme in time to come.”
“I think the fare adjustment that’s going to take place next year will hopefully allow us to take one step further in the salaries and wages that we are giving the drivers.”
His remarks came in the wake of last week’s SMRT PRC bus driver strike, a first in 26 years of strike-free environment in Singapore.
He said that cost increases for transport operators have outpaced fare adjustments over the years. He noted that the Fare Review Mechanism Committee, headed by Mr Richard Magnus, is currently reviewing the public transport fare formula.
Mr Lui said, “Any fare adjustment will allow the two operators to have more resources in time to come to make further salary adjustments. We recognise that the drivers need to be paid more. (The) question is where is that money coming from?”

The answer (in Singapore) is always market (consumer) will pay for it.