Public Transport Fare Review 2025

The Public Transport Fare Review Exercise (FRE) 2025 sees an overall 5.0% increase in bus and train fares with effect from 27th December 2025. Adult card fares for buses and trains are set to increase by 9–10 cents, while Concession card fares are set to increase by 3–4 cents for journeys longer than 3.2km.

For Express bus services, card fares will increase by 49–50 cents for adults, and 20–24 cents for concession groups.

Prices of monthly passes for adults, workfare transport concession cardholders, seniors, and persons with disabilities have been reduced by up to 5%.

2025 Fare Review Exercise Major Changes

On top of raising basic fares across all commuter groups, the Public Transport Council (PTC) also significantly increased express bus fares, while slightly reducing the cost of monthly passes.

Express Bus fares increased

Express bus services are subject to higher fares than basic bus services, as they provide commuters with a differentiated service in the form of faster journeys from the heartlands to city areas and key employment centres as compared to basic bus services.

The difference in fares between express and basic bus services has not been adjusted since distance-based fares were introduced in 2010, at $0.60 for adults, and $0.30 to $0.50 for concession groups.

To better reflect the higher costs of providing express bus services and improve the financial sustainability of our bus services, the PTC decided to increase the fare difference for express bus services over basic adult bus and train fares by $0.40 for adults and $0.20 for concession groups, for payments made by card.

For payments by cash on express bus services, where all commuter groups pay the same fares, the fares will be increased by $0.60.

Monthly Pass prices reduced

The price of monthly passes for adults, seniors, workfare transport concession cardholders and persons with disabilities has been reduced by up to 5%.

The Fare Review At A Glance:

From 27th December 2025:

50¢ discount on train sector continues to apply for commuters who tap in before 07:45 on Weekdays (excluding Public Holidays).

A consolidated list of new fares can be found on the PTC’s website.

Monthly Concession Passes

Prices for Adult Monthly Travel Pass, Senior Citizen / Persons with Disabilities Hybrid Monthly Concession Pass & Workfare Transport Hybrid Monthly Concession Pass will be reduced. All other Monthly Concession Passes will remain unchanged.

Fare Adjustment Quantum

Based on the current Public Transport Fare Adjustment Formula published by the Public Transport Council (PTC) in April 2023, the fare adjustment quantum generated by the formula is 1.5% for the 2025 FRE. Considering the deferred fare quantum of 12.9% from the 2024 FRE, the maximum allowable fare adjustment quantum to be considered for the 2025 FRE is 14.4%.

The PTC decided to grant an overall fare adjustment quantum of 5.0%, below the maximum allowable fare adjustment quantum of 14.4%, to cushion commuters from the full fare increase. This will reduce the deferred fare quantum to 9.4% (from 12.9%), which will be considered at future FREs. This helps keep fare changes manageable for commuters, and also reduces the deferred fare quantum to be carried over.

This is done in PTC’s understanding that the cost of living remains a concern for Singaporeans.

To cover the deferred fare adjustment quantum, the Government has agreed to provide an additional subsidy of more than $200 million in 2026. This is on top of the annual operating subsidies of $2 billion for public transport and additional government funding of close to $1 billion over 8 years (from 2024 to 2032) for the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme. This additional Government subsidy will help to moderate the fare increase, while still accounting for the higher costs of public transport provision.

Fare Adjustment Formula

The Public Transport Council (PTC) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport that regulates public transport fares. The board conducts annual Fare Review Exercises to adjust public transport fares, and new fares usually take effect in end-December.

The current Fare Adjustment Formula is as follows, and is applicable from 2023 to 2027:

Year 2025 Fare Adjustment Quantum = 0.5 cCPI + 0.4 WI + 0.1 EI – PC + C = 1.5%
Quantum carried over from the 2024 Exercise – 12.9%
FRE 2025 Maximum Allowable Fare Adjustment Quantum – 14.4%

The Fare Adjustment Formula is based on five components:

• Core Consumer Price Index (cCPI):
  3.2% (Weighted Value: 1.6%)
• Wage Index (WI):
  5% (Weighted Value: 2.0%)
• Energy Index (EI):
  -36% (Weighted Value: -3.6%)
• Productivity Contribution (PC):
  0.2% (Weighted Value: -0.2%)
• Capacity Adjustment Factor (C):
  1.7% (Weighted Value: 1.7%)

Fare Adjustment Quantum granted for 2025: 5.0% (remaining 9.4% carried over to future FREs)

Changes to reference period of Fare Adjustment Formula

In previous FREs, the reference period was the 12 months ending in December of the year prior to the FRE year, compared to the corresponding period of the preceding year.

Going forward, the reference period of cost indices in the fare adjustment formula will be shifted to the 12-month period ending in June of the FRE year, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

This change was used to reduce the gap between when cost changes are experienced by operators and when fares are adjusted,. This change means that fares can be updated on a timelier basis to reflect cost changes and reduce the gap from one year to about six months.

For FRE2025, the reference period includes an additional six-month period for a total of 18 months (January 2024 – June 2025 vs the year before) as a once-off transition to the revised reference period. This change means that fares can be updated on a timelier basis to reflect cost changes and reducing the gap from one year to about six months.

As such, some previously fixed figures were rounded off to 1 decimal place for FRE 2025, such as

• Productivity Contribution (PC)
  Set at 0.1% till 2027
  Adjusted to 0.2% for FRE 2025, reflecting a 1.5x scaling factor for the 12→18 month shift (0.1 × 1.5, rounded).
• Capacity Adjustment Factor (C)
  Set at 1.1% based on actual and planned capacity improvements from 2020 to 2026
  Adjusted to 1.7% for FRE 2025, reflecting a 1.5x scaling factor for the 12→18 month shift (1.1 × 1.5, rounded).

Highlights of Public Transport Operators’ Applications

SBS Transit Rail applied for a fare adjustment of 14.4%, citing cost pressures arising from a competitive labour market and rising maintenance costs, while rail ridership recovery to pre-Covid levels remains uncertain as companies continue to adopt Work-From-Home arrangements. In its latest financial year, SBS Transit’s train segment reported a marginal profit after taking into account Government support.

SMRT Trains applied for a fare adjustment of 14.4%. The operator cited cost pressures from slow recovery of public transport ridership due to hybrid work arrangements, elevated energy costs compared to pre-energy crisis levels, as well as increasing repair and maintenance costs due to enhanced maintenance regimes and equipment overhaul. In its latest financial year, SMRT Trains recorded an operating profit of $4.9 million (which is less than 1% profit margin), after taking into account Government support.

External Links & References:

• Fare Review Exercise 2025 – Public Transport Council
• Factsheet for Fare Review Exercise 2025 – Public Transport Council

Past Fare Review Exercises:

• Public Transport Fare Review 2024
• Public Transport Fare Review 2023
• Public Transport Fare Review 2022
• Public Transport Fare Review 2021
• Public Transport Fare Review 2020
• Public Transport Fare Review 2019
• Public Transport Fare Review 2018

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