SENIOR manager Chong Ching Hoong, 42, will pay higher school bus fares for his children from next month.
It will cost $78 to ferry each of his two children to Red Swastika School in Bedok North, up from $73 currently. Fares were last raised in January from $68 previously.
'Five dollars might not be a lot, but it is almost a 7 per cent increase from what it was a year ago. Who among us gets a 7 per cent pay increase these days?' asked Mr Chong, whose Tanah Merah home is a five-minute drive from the school.
However, the bus operator, Mr Neo Tiam Beng, has defended his decision to raise fares. 'Bus insurance and vehicle parts all cost more these days. And when we pick up children from the private housing estates in Tanah Merah, we have to drive all the way to the house's doorstep. That takes more fuel.'
Like Mr Neo, ComfortDelGro Bus, which provides transport for seven primary schools, plans to increase prices, charging at least $10 more per pupil per month.
Most of the other school operators that The Straits Times spoke to, however, said they will not raise fares in the coming school year, in view of the economic downturn.
'I can still sustain the business, and the lower diesel prices have also helped the situation,' said Mr Ng Beng Tuan, who provides transport for two primary schools.
The Singapore School Transport Association (SSTA), which represents about 900 school bus operators, said more than half of its members are not expected to raise fares.
'For the rest who might, it could be only a marginal increase like $5 to $10 more each month,' said association chairman Wong Ann Lin.
He added that the association will let bus operators decide whether to increase their fares and will not interfere. This follows an incident in July, when the SSTA proposed that its members charge parents more to cover rising diesel costs.
But the Competition Commission of Singapore took issue with the plan, and said such price recommendations would not help free competition.
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