Around two weeks after announcing that EZ-Link cards would be phased out in favour of SimplyGo, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) reversed the decision, saying that non-SimplyGo cards would still be able to be used.
Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat has apologised to commuters over the “judgment error”, saying that the authorities had “underestimated” the desire for them to see their card balances at fare-charging points.
Source: SBS Transit
He also said that the existing EZ-Link system will stay at least till 2030.
LTA had initially said that the older ticketing system would make way for a full SimplyGo-based system from 1 June.
In remarks reported by Channel NewsAsia (CNA) on Friday (26 Jan), Mr Chee said they underestimated the “strong preference” that passengers had to view their fare balance and fares charged at payment readers, adding:
This was a judgment error on our part, and I apologise to our commuters for what happened. We will learn from this and we will do better in future.
He added that if they had consulted more widely, including gathering views from a wider group of commuters before making the announcement, they would have come across these stronger preferences.
“I understand where commuters are coming from,” Mr Chee said, adding that the authorities respected their preferences.
Passengers are familiar with this feature and find it useful, he noted, referring to the current feature of being able to view the fare deductions and card balances.
Mr Chee said in his Facebook post on Monday (22 Jan) that the Government would spend an additional S$40 million to keep the EZ-Link and NETS Flashpay systems operational.
He clarified today that the amount was needed to buy new hardware and to maintain and operate the older ticketing system.
Source: Chee Hong Tat on Facebook
The existing system for adults is reaching the end of its shelf life this year, he said, and LTA must decide whether to continue with the system or not.
The agency had intended to avoid incurring the cost by “sunsetting” the system, he explained, adding:
However, we realised that this was not in line with what many commuters want. This was not in line with the feedback that many commuters were telling us. We decided we will not proceed with this decision.
The S$40 million will not be part of public transport fares. It will be borne by the Government, he said.
Mr Chee also said the existing system, which he referred to as the card-based ticketing (CBT) system, will be around till at least 2030.
Beyond that year, the authorities will decide later whether to extend it.
They will also look into progressively integrating the two CBT systems — for adults and concession card holders — over time.
They’ll first have to determine whether the technical difficulties of displaying fare deductions and card balance information at station gates and bus card readers can be overcome.
To that end, Mr Chee has asked LTA to improve SimplyGo’s features.
That’s because he thinks it’s “important” for them to help commuters see their fare deductions and card balances at the fare-charging points, he said, adding:
At the moment, there is no technical solution for this, both here and overseas. The worry is that if you do this and there is a long delay, it will cause long queues and slow down the flow of commuters.
Also read: Commentary: Are We Simply Going To Ignore The S$40M?
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Featured image adapted from Chee Hong Tat on Facebook and SBS Transit.
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