SINGAPORE – Sale of standard tickets – limited use paper tickets – at MRT stations will be progressively phased out between January and March 2022.

This comes as most commuters are already using stored value cards or account-based ticketing such as contactless bank cards.

Standard tickets were introduced to allow commuters to pay for their ride when the MRT system began operations in 1987 but now fewer than one in 1,000 trips are paid using these tickets, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in August.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Friday (Dec 3) that the move will start with the Thomson-East Coast and Downtown lines from Jan 10.

This will be followed by the Circle and North East lines on Feb 10, and the North-South and East-West lines on March 10.

LTA has also reduced the minimum top-up amount for stored value cards such as ez-link cards at ticketing machines to $2, down from $10 for adults and $5 for student concession cards.

“This will allow commuters who have limited cash on hand to top up, continue their journeys and enjoy the cost savings,” said LTA.

The move to phase out standard tickets – purchased for single or return trips – because of low usage was announced earlier in August.

LTA said stored value cards and account-based ticketing options offer commuters more savings and convenience.

For example, a 3.2km trip costs $1.70 when using standard tickets, compared to $0.92 with stored value cards or account-based ticketing.

In preparation for the phasing out of standard tickets, LTA conducted pilots earlier this year at some MRT stations where the sale was temporarily halted.

Responding queries to The Straits Times, an LTA spokesman said the sale of standard tickets at general ticketing machines at Farrer Park and Lavender MRT stations was temporarily suspended for a day on Aug 31, and at all stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line for a week starting Nov 15.

This was to enable the rail operators, LTA and TransitLink to refine standard operating procedures for the actual phase out, and gather information on commuters’ standard ticket use, she said.

“Through these trials, we found that those who were still using standard tickets generally had access to alternative payment modes such as contactless bank cards, mobile wallets and ez-link cards,” LTA noted.

Following the announcement in August, it has been working with partners to contact seniors, lower income groups and migrant workers to encourage them to switch to stored value cards or account-based payment.

Since September, letters have been sent to Comcare recipients who do not own a concession card to inform them that they are eligible for a free adult ez-link card.

These free cards can be redeemed at any of the 48 Transit Link ticket offices or concession card replacement offices within three months from the date of the letter.

“To assist commuters as standard tickets are phased out, service ambassadors will be deployed at selected train stations over January to March 2022,” LTA said.

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