I think I'm getting all the days of the week mixed up, but it doesn't matter. Just ignore the "unday" in the banner above. Only recently, in fact just three days ago on Saturday, the Land Transport Authority rolled out the Distance Fares scheme as an improvement to the current system.
Now, this new system calculates the fare on a distance basis. It will calculate the total distance of your trip (with the maximum time allowance for transferring capped at 45 minutes and up to 5 transfers in a single journey with a maximum traveling time of 2 hours) so you would not have to pay the boarding charge every time you take a transport. Quoted from the official Distance Fares website: "Distance Fares is a major step towards integrating Singapore's public transport system and gives commuters greater flexibility, choice and convenience."
For some people, traveling might be cheaper now with the Distance Fares in place. Today was my first trip home with system in operation. I tapped in a 961 long-distance bus and took it all the way to the Woodlands Regional Interchange. I used to pay 44 cents (standard pricing for Concession Cards, regardless of the bus taken), but realised that I have to pay 58 cents now. This is a big jump of 14 cents. I don't see how I benefit from this.
UPDATE 7/7
Today, I decided to try taking the shorter way home. This meant that I had to transfer several times, first bus 67 to Choa Chu Kang Intercharge, then MRT to Woodlands and finally a short bus home. Two transfers. I had to pay 58 cents for the first trip, that was understood. What I was pretty surprised about was that the next two transfers actually cost me nothing! In total, I paid 58 cents, a big difference from the previous 112 cents ($1.12). I guess this actually saves me quite a sum of money.
Of course, I'm assuming that this actually benefits people who have to transfer various times to get to their destination more. Do you benefit from Distance Fares?
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