Singapore U-turns to allow Ez-link card for public transport payments beyond June 1
- The U-turn, which will cost S$40 million (US$29.8 million), comes less than two weeks after LTA’s original announcement of the June 1 deadline
- Commuters faced delays during the upgrade, and were unhappy about no longer seeing their stored-value card balance and fare deduction at fare gates and bus card-readers
Singapore’s planned full adoption of SimplyGo for adult public transport fares will be postponed from the original June 1 date as the authorities try to iron out concerns raised by commuters, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Monday.
Separately, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the government will spend S$40 million (US$29.8 million) to extend the use of Ez-link cards and Nets FlashPay cards for adult commuters, and not to “sunset” the system in 2024 as originally planned.
The postponement comes less than two weeks after LTA announced that Nets FlashPay and Ez-link non-concession adult cards – known as card-based ticketing cards – that have not been upgraded to SimplyGo will not be accepted for public transport payments from June 1.
No time frame was given for how long the postponement would last.
Today understands that the additional S$40 million will be spent on upgrading ageing hardware and maintaining the current transport payment system option.
Commuters who had bought or converted their old Ez-link cards to SimplyGo cards in the past two weeks can also exchange it for their original card, free of charge, LTA said.
