Should bus fares go up in order to pay for higher wages?

[irisng]

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/should-bus-...093418011.html

The issue of bus drivers’ wages has been dragged into the harsh scrutiny of Singapore’s public eye following the rare two-day strike by more than 180 Chinese bus drivers working for transport operator SMRT late last month.

Speaking for the first time on the protest, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew told local media on Thursday that public transport costs have risen faster than fares.

He reportedly noted that fares have increased by 0.3 per cent over past years as compared to fuel and wage costs, which went up by 30 per cent over the same period, adding that the public transport fare review that will take place next year will need to factor in this “significant mismatch”.

Separately, SMRT reported early last month that its net profit from its second quarter fiscal year had dipped despite earning higher revenue. Its bus transport business saw operating losses jump to $6.6 million for the period from $2.6 million the year before as basic salaries and head count rose.

We want to know what your take on the issue is. Is raising bus fares the only way for public transport providers to pay for higher salaries, or should operators absorb the costs?

By Jeanette Tan | Yahoo! Newsroom

[roly8]

if not, how to earn money leh?

no free transport

[irisng]

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/should-bus-...093418011.html

The issue of bus drivers’ wages has been dragged into the harsh scrutiny of Singapore’s public eye following the rare two-day strike by more than 180 Chinese bus drivers working for transport operator SMRT late last month.

Speaking for the first time on the protest, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew told local media on Thursday that public transport costs have risen faster than fares.

He reportedly noted that fares have increased by 0.3 per cent over past years as compared to fuel and wage costs, which went up by 30 per cent over the same period, adding that the public transport fare review that will take place next year will need to factor in this “significant mismatch”.

Separately, SMRT reported early last month that its net profit from its second quarter fiscal year had dipped despite earning higher revenue. Its bus transport business saw operating losses jump to $6.6 million for the period from $2.6 million the year before as basic salaries and head count rose.

We want to know what your take on the issue is. Is raising bus fares the only way for public transport providers to pay for higher salaries, or should operators absorb the costs?

By Jeanette Tan | Yahoo! Newsroom

If there are lots of passengers taking the bus, then the increase won't be just 0.3%, it should be (No. of passengers x 0.3%), right?

[proud owner]

[quote=irisng]http://sg.news.yahoo.com/should-bus-...093418011.html

The issue of bus drivers’ wages has been dragged into the harsh scrutiny of Singapore’s public eye following the rare two-day strike by more than 180 Chinese bus drivers working for transport operator SMRT late last month.

Speaking for the first time on the protest, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew told local media on Thursday that public transport costs have risen faster than fares.

He reportedly noted that fares have increased by 0.3 per cent over past years as compared to fuel and wage costs, which went up by 30 per cent over the same period, adding that the public transport fare review that will take place next year will need to factor in this “significant mismatch”.

Separately, SMRT reported early last month that its net profit from its second quarter fiscal year had dipped despite earning higher revenue. Its bus transport business saw operating losses jump to $6.6 million for the period from $2.6 million the year before as basic salaries and head count rose.

We want to know what your take on the issue is. Is raising bus fares the only way for public transport providers to pay for higher salaries, or should operators absorb the costs?


if i were an MP or NMP ... i would be asking :

cost of living in singapore has gone up some 30- 40 pct .. YET salary at most went up 10 pct ..

shouldnt we also raise the salary ???

[teddybear]

The problem is, they are asking for increase in bus fare paid by Singaporeans to pay for increase in salaries of bus drivers who are predominately foreigners!
Why don't they ask employers to increase salary for all Singapore citizens to match that of inflation?
And why don't they ask the transport companies to take less profit since enough is enough? Very rare to see transport companies making so high profit margin in the world (except Singapore?).

[quote=proud owner]

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/should-bus-...093418011.html

The issue of bus drivers’ wages has been dragged into the harsh scrutiny of Singapore’s public eye following the rare two-day strike by more than 180 Chinese bus drivers working for transport operator SMRT late last month.

Speaking for the first time on the protest, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew told local media on Thursday that public transport costs have risen faster than fares.

He reportedly noted that fares have increased by 0.3 per cent over past years as compared to fuel and wage costs, which went up by 30 per cent over the same period, adding that the public transport fare review that will take place next year will need to factor in this “significant mismatch”.

Separately, SMRT reported early last month that its net profit from its second quarter fiscal year had dipped despite earning higher revenue. Its bus transport business saw operating losses jump to $6.6 million for the period from $2.6 million the year before as basic salaries and head count rose.

We want to know what your take on the issue is. Is raising bus fares the only way for public transport providers to pay for higher salaries, or should operators absorb the costs?


if i were an MP or NMP ... i would be asking :

cost of living in singapore has gone up some 30- 40 pct .. YET salary at most went up 10 pct ..

shouldnt we also raise the salary ???

[august]

is a red herring.

[minority]

[QUOTE=teddybear]The problem is, they are asking for increase in bus fare paid by Singaporeans to pay for increase in salaries of bus drivers who are predominately foreigners!
Why don't they ask employers to increase salary for all Singapore citizens to match that of inflation?
And why don't they ask the transport companies to take less profit since enough is enough? Very rare to see transport companies making so high profit margin in the world (except Singapore?).


u mean there are no Singaporean bus drivers there meh? ur is wat logic.? Sure increase so call all Singapore salary then inflation go up again lor. No end to this

[minority]

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/should-bus-...093418011.html

The issue of bus drivers’ wages has been dragged into the harsh scrutiny of Singapore’s public eye following the rare two-day strike by more than 180 Chinese bus drivers working for transport operator SMRT late last month.

Speaking for the first time on the protest, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew told local media on Thursday that public transport costs have risen faster than fares.

He reportedly noted that fares have increased by 0.3 per cent over past years as compared to fuel and wage costs, which went up by 30 per cent over the same period, adding that the public transport fare review that will take place next year will need to factor in this “significant mismatch”.

Separately, SMRT reported early last month that its net profit from its second quarter fiscal year had dipped despite earning higher revenue. Its bus transport business saw operating losses jump to $6.6 million for the period from $2.6 million the year before as basic salaries and head count rose.

We want to know what your take on the issue is. Is raising bus fares the only way for public transport providers to pay for higher salaries, or should operators absorb the costs?

By Jeanette Tan | Yahoo! Newsroom

Well u cant live on cheap labour for ever this will catch up with us eventually as the developing catchup. maybe w have to go find another country where labour is cheap..

maybe Myanmar. But eventally the developing country will catch up again

[ecimbew]

The problem is, they are asking for increase in bus fare paid by Singaporeans to pay for increase in salaries of bus drivers who are predominately foreigners!
Why don't they ask employers to increase salary for all Singapore citizens to match that of inflation?
And why don't they ask the transport companies to take less profit since enough is enough? Very rare to see transport companies making so high profit margin in the world (except Singapore?).

Bingo! I'm disappointed with these ministers. The old guard will work for citizens. The new ones side businesses more.

[phantom_opera]

from TR ... not verified

[minority]

from TR ... not verified

TR is a BS site. cannot trust wat u read there.

[richwang]

Every year, LTA collects S$2B from COE. When COE was first introduced, it was meant to fund public transport.

There are about 4,000 bus drivers. Just 5% of S$2B is enough to give every bus driver S$25K pay raise.

Of course, at the same time, I will propose another 5% of S$2B to give LTA senior officers and SMRT/SBS top managers another S$1M pay raise for coming up with this excellent idea. So we can actually afford to have 100 senior officers and top managers to get S$1M pay raise.

No fee hike is required.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Richard

[hyenergix]

Every year, LTA collects S$2B from COE. When COE was first introduced, it was meant to fund public transport.

There are about 4,000 bus drivers. Just 5% of S$2B is enough to give every bus driver S$25K pay raise.

Of course, at the same time, I will propose another 5% of S$2B to give LTA senior officers and SMRT/SBS top managers another S$1M pay raise for coming up with this excellent idea. So we can actually afford to have 100 senior officers and top managers to get S$1M pay raise.

No fee hike is required.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Richard

U forget road maintenance, electricity for street lighting, new infrastructure investments etc.

[minority]

Every year, LTA collects S$2B from COE. When COE was first introduced, it was meant to fund public transport.

There are about 4,000 bus drivers. Just 5% of S$2B is enough to give every bus driver S$25K pay raise.

Of course, at the same time, I will propose another 5% of S$2B to give LTA senior officers and SMRT/SBS top managers another S$1M pay raise for coming up with this excellent idea. So we can actually afford to have 100 senior officers and top managers to get S$1M pay raise.

No fee hike is required.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Richard

LTA funding are for infra. and it have to be paid back.

[minority]

Every year, LTA collects S$2B from COE. When COE was first introduced, it was meant to fund public transport.

There are about 4,000 bus drivers. Just 5% of S$2B is enough to give every bus driver S$25K pay raise.

Of course, at the same time, I will propose another 5% of S$2B to give LTA senior officers and SMRT/SBS top managers another S$1M pay raise for coming up with this excellent idea. So we can actually afford to have 100 senior officers and top managers to get S$1M pay raise.

No fee hike is required.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Richard

Anyway I like the analogy.. so can it be next time any MNC need to raise their employees pay the shareholders hav the right to demand the CEO cut their own pay? but demand divined be double to pay out the share holder. The argument is the company owes the share holders n owe the employee but CEO must make to suffer?

wat a wierd reasoning these days. pple have.

[buttercarp]

I agree that the bus drivers' pay should be revised.
It should be attractive to keep them on the job.
However, with the amount of money collected from the COE, I wish the government could use it to subsidize public transport fare.
I feel that students and senior citizens fare should be minimal.

[proud owner]

U forget road maintenance, electricity for street lighting, new infrastructure investments etc.

road maintenance they also cut corners...

as a driver ... i hate it when they paved a strip of tar instead of the whole lane ...

imagine driving with your right wheels on NEW road and left wheels on old road .. so uncomfortable ..

how much more does it cost to tar the whole lane instead of strips ?

in NZ ..even the country roads are better than in singapore

also nowadays ..road repairs are done in the day ...becos they refuse to pay overtime pay for workers to do it at night ..

they save money ...we pay road tax and get the inconvenience ..

i feel they are paying top management too much ... and the drivers are paid too low ..

[minority]

I agree that the bus drivers' pay should be revised.
It should be attractive to keep them on the job.
However, with the amount of money collected from the COE, I wish the government could use it to subsidize public transport fare.
I feel that students and senior citizens fare should be minimal.

Hmm shouldn't that money go to something more long term? Like infra? I don't think it's long term to fund from tax. One day the tax drop or for some reason tax model change it will be hard to take people off the funded mindset. Like Greece. Building more connected infra n reducing the reliance on moto transport is ideal for dense city like sgp .

Elderly or student transport rebates can come as other form. Instead of giving direct to SMRT or SBS coz that's draw addition over head cost to those benefits.

[minority]

road maintenance they also cut corners...

as a driver ... i hate it when they paved a strip of tar instead of the whole lane ...

imagine driving with your right wheels on NEW road and left wheels on old road .. so uncomfortable ..

how much more does it cost to tar the whole lane instead of strips ?

in NZ ..even the country roads are better than in singapore

also nowadays ..road repairs are done in the day ...becos they refuse to pay overtime pay for workers to do it at night ..

they save money ...we pay road tax and get the inconvenience ..

i feel they are paying top management too much ... and the drivers are paid too low ..

I can only say pple hard to please. Hah hah do road must do whole road. Than double the down time of the road. Close half then close the other half. Double the cost n then there will be pple question why take so long can't do in 1 day meh? I also pay tax leh!

[august]

I agree that the bus drivers' pay should be revised.
It should be attractive to keep them on the job.
However, with the amount of money collected from the COE, I wish the government could use it to subsidize public transport fare.
I feel that students and senior citizens fare should be minimal.

sporean bus drivers' pay should be revised. not for foreigners. if the foreigners dun like it, they r free to seek opportunities elsewhere.

[proud owner]

I can only say pple hard to please. Hah hah do road must do whole road. Than double the down time of the road. Close half then close the other half. Double the cost n then there will be pple question why take so long can't do in 1 day meh? I also pay tax leh!

i dun mean the entire road ...

havent you come across say a 2 lane road ... ..the dig a strip to do something ..
then tar only that strip that they dug out .. it makes that lane uneven ..

thats what i meant when i say the right wheels on new tar and left wheels on old tar ..

they can tar that whole lane to make it even ...
in any case they need to close that lane .. so down time is the same ..

they just need to pay the management 200k less a yr and we can have good roads...

[minority]

I think all roads should be change n build in north n south direction. Coz when I drive in morning or afternoon I get sun in my eyes... &@&@?!? I pay tax n Coe. Should they consider my eye comfort!!! Roads need to be north or should my eyes get sun blind how???

Hah hah....

[proud owner]

I think all roads should be change n build in north n south direction. Coz when I drive in morning or afternoon I get sun in my eyes... &@&@?!? I pay tax n Coe. Should they consider my eye comfort!!! Roads need to be north or should my eyes get sun blind how???

Hah hah....

thats too much lah

some people are just hard to please

[richwang]

LTA funding are for infra. and it have to be paid back.

Simple question: before COE was introduced, how did we maintain the road?
You mean we didn't have the money?
Please remember COE are "extra" money, government has repeated said it is just meant to control the traffic, not for the money. So this "extra" money collected from (mainly middle class) people, will need to be put back into (relatively less well paid) people.

All the investment on infra, can easily be gained back by selling the land at MUCH higher prices.

Thanks,
Richard

[buttercarp]

sporean bus drivers' pay should be revised. not for foreigners. if the foreigners dun like it, they r free to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Yup, you are right!
But how many SG bus drivers are there now?
According to this report in April 2012, there are only 1900 SG SBS bus drivers.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/sbs-to-rais...es-by-16-.html

Actually when foreigners come here to work, they should be briefed on the laws in our country.
Also I thought those who come here on a 2 year work permit, a certain salary will be agreed upon for the next 2 years and if they are not agreeable, they can reject the offer and return home?

[richwang]

If we have enough Singaporeans for taxi drivers, surely with a population of 2M locally bored Singaporeans, we will have enough Singaporeans for the 4000 bus drivers.

How much they need to be paid, just leave it to the market force!

Thanks,
Richard

[ysyap]

Our dear minister was quiet the whole time then when he opens his mouth, its 'raise bus fare'... nothing nice ever comes from his mouth... sigh!

Actually no need to raise fares lah... just take in less profit for the companies can already lor... tot our govt pumping in an obsence amount of money into our transportation and some of which was apportioned for wages, right?

[CondoInterested]

People always say, wanna earn big big money, skin must thick thick, leg must open big big too aka 不要脸.

Think the statement is true, year in year out earning such huge profit and still got the thick skin to ask for fare increase.

Sometimes wondering if conspiracy theory comes true?

[irisng]

Every year, LTA collects S$2B from COE. When COE was first introduced, it was meant to fund public transport.

There are about 4,000 bus drivers. Just 5% of S$2B is enough to give every bus driver S$25K pay raise.

Of course, at the same time, I will propose another 5% of S$2B to give LTA senior officers and SMRT/SBS top managers another S$1M pay raise for coming up with this excellent idea. So we can actually afford to have 100 senior officers and top managers to get S$1M pay raise.

No fee hike is required.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Richard

Don't forget about the collection from ERP too.

[Shanhz]

road maintenance they also cut corners...

as a driver ... i hate it when they paved a strip of tar instead of the whole lane ...

imagine driving with your right wheels on NEW road and left wheels on old road .. so uncomfortable ..

how much more does it cost to tar the whole lane instead of strips ?

in NZ ..even the country roads are better than in singapore

also nowadays ..road repairs are done in the day ...becos they refuse to pay overtime pay for workers to do it at night ..

they save money ...we pay road tax and get the inconvenience ..

i feel they are paying top management too much ... and the drivers are paid too low ..

Usually they will pave the whole road when the digging project is fully completed. I write to lta to complain very often. They are very responsive, believe me. I am extremely proud of lta on that part.