Transport Vouchers for Low-income Families

Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Minister for Transport (a) to date, how many families have applied for transport vouchers; (b) how many vouchers have been given out; (c) whether any families have failed to receive the vouchers due to insufficient supply and, if so, what is the number of such families; and (d) whether the Government will consider offering a longer term transport subsidy such as automatic top-ups on EZ link cards for the low-income instead of one-off vouchers.

Public transport vouchers are one-off assistance measures to help mitigate the impact of public transport (PT) fare increases for low-income families.

The table below shows the number of PT vouchers made available and encashed since 2007. No vouchers were disbursed in 2009, 2010 and 2012 as there were no fare increases in those years. No family has been left out due to insufficient supply.

The Fare Review Mechanism Committee is currently reviewing the public transport concessions framework to ensure that fares are kept affordable, including for low-income earners.

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