SMRT and Comfort Delgro(which owns SBS) are public listed companies aren't they? and they are profit making companies, inspite of fares being so cheap. In what way are they subsidised?JR8 wrote:Because it is hugely subsidised via taxes.Wd40 wrote:Off topic, but MRT is really cheap.
Do you imagine the cost of providing a spiffy new rail system is 75% less here, than maintaining and running one somewhere else like Aus or Europe?
The reason it is so cheap is to do with the cost of putting a Dinky car on the road being something like S$200k, people HAVE to have some affordable way to get to work.
Tax the hell out of the car drivers, to subsidise the MRT riders?
The only way the high cost of car ownership, helps the public transport companies, is by way of more volume of people using public transport and high utilization rate. That's not subsidy. You can call it a bit of monopoly. Being a monopoly they could easily increase their fares a fair bit, if they wanted, considering cars will still be beyond reach for many people.