Public transport

"Public transport fares to go down by 2.5%" screams the headline today.

Explanation of how the 2.5% decrease is derived: NIL
Comparison of current pricing vs new pricing: NIL

I re-read the article a couple of times, just trying to see if I missed out anything. My understanding of the article tells me that

• Transport costs will in future be based on distance 
• Some people may be paying less
• Some people may be paying the same
• Some people may be paying MORE

How is that a decrease??? Where the hell is the decrease?? What the hell is a "transfer penalty"??? I thought whenever you do a transfer, you get discounts/rebates??? Whats the penalty??? Have I been paying more all this time without me knowing?? (not surprised if i am)

To be very honest, I gave up trying to understand how much our public transports charge.

When I take a cab, I dunno what surcharges there is or going to be applied until I paid the final bill and asked for a receipt. The cabby could have told me I need to pay a surcharge for picking me up in front of a T-junction opposite a double white line and I would have believed him and paid for it anyway.

When I take a bus, I have no idea how much I will be paying when I alight, I simply struggle to tap my card while being shoved out by the other people, and I never double check. I understand there's a whole different pricing if I paid in cash, or if I am transferring from another bus or MRT.

The only time I can have 2 more seconds to look at my remaining EZlink card value is when I take the train. I think this is the only system I can understand with no surcharges or different pricings etc (i think?)

End of the day, no matter how much the cabs, bus and trains want to charge, how much they wanna increase the fares, there's nothing you can do about it at all. Its not like I can just walk to work? Just suck thumb and pay through nose lor.

Time to get another lot of those SMRT stocks.