Tuesday 11 September 2018

Wake up earlier, save some money!

Credits: SMRT
Unless you drive, you would probably be like me who have to squeeze in the MRT (or bus) every morning to get to work and squeezing in trains ain't too fun. 😒

This is an old article, but the 50 cents discount for pre-peak weekday for MRT travel is still valid, until the end of 2018 at least. 

The government had previously also tried other schemes, i.e. Free Pre-Peak Travel scheme, which allows those who reach any of 18 MRT stations in the city area before 7.45am to have free rides. However, it was rather localised within the city area and tapping out before 7.45am is no easy feat. Therefore, i believe the new (ok not so new now) scheme should work better, considering it is applicable to all 157 MRT and LRT stations and you just need to tap in before 7.45am.

Assuming you tap in before 7.45am each morning for Mon-Fri, you will save $2.50 a week which means you could save about $130 for 52 weeks. Not a terribly big sum but if the government gives you $130 in 50 cents installments for a year, do you not take it?

If you are already travelling at around 8am, why not try setting out 15 mins earlier and get a 50 cents discount? It is like if you set off 15 mins earlier, you will definitely find 50 cents lying on the ground for your taking. 😜 Ok, besides the 50 cents, there are also many benefits of getting to work early e.g. leaving work earlier (hopefully you are not those who only can leave after your boss leaves), already cleared your inbox before your colleagues even walk into office, have a quick breakfast in office. But all that aside, it makes for a better travelling experience because the trains are considerably less crowded before 7.45am. Don't take my word for it, go see check it out yourself. 

Sometimes we don't see it, we don't feel it. Wonder it will work even more effectively if we had MRT staff standing at the gantry giving out 50 cents to everyone entering before 7.45am, though that that would go against our push towards a cashless society and push up cost cos we need extra MRT staff. haha...  


Not this 50 cents...
Hopefully the government see enough benefits of de-congestion that it outweighs the cost and the scheme will be extended, cos i think it is not a bad scheme actually, though Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said it was not sustainable for taxpayers to subsidise the increasing costs of the public transport system and I believe many of you would have seen a more recent article sharing that bus and train fares may rise by up to 4.3% next year. 🤑

While we cannot do anything about the proposed increase in fares next year, we can go get our 50 cents each morning still at least for the next couple of months till Dec 2018.

Gotta catch'em when they last!

Frugal Singa


No comments:

Post a Comment

Stock Acquired! Facebook (FB:NASDAQ)

I bought some FB shares a couple of days ago! So here is why I bought some FB shares @  $149.80 . Strengths Reach : Saying many pe...