Singaporeans complain about MRT breakdowns all the time, but the truth is that we’re a lucky bunch. Objectively speaking, the Singapore public transport system is reasonably efficient.
But good things must pay, right? According to a 2018 NTU study, Singaporean families spend $2,750 a year on public transport, which works out to about $229 per month.
While bus & MRT fares are probably not the biggest monthly expense on your list, you might still feel the pinch if you’re not earning a lot of money.
Here are a few ways you can shave a bit of money off your commute:
1. Take the MRT before 7:45am
They say the early bird catches the worm. Here’s one such incentive for early risers: Tapping into the MRT before 7.45am will earn you $0.50 off your MRT fares.
Of course, the cheapest way to commute to work is to work from home, if your employer allows that. But if you need to be at work, and your job allows for flexible working hours, then you might as well start and end your day earlier.
If you’re consistent in being early, the savings do add up. Assuming 22 working days a month, you’d be saving $11 a month — enough to pay for a couple of meals in Singapore.
2. Tap in & out within 45 minutes
If you’ve got a quick errand to run, you can make the round trip count as one journey by tapping in and out within 45 minutes.
This only applies to bus/rail transfers. For example, you take the MRT from Bishan to Serangoon, buy whatever you need from Nex, then transfer to bus 53 to go back to Bishan (within 45 minutes of tapping out of Serangoon MRT).
You can also make multiple MRT transfers without incurring additional charges if you tap in and out within 15 minutes. Use this trick for transferring between MRT lines to save time.
3. Earn credit card rebates with SimplyGo
With the introduction of SimplyGo in April 2019, you can completely bypass the EZ-Link card, and use your credit card to pay for public transport.
There are quite few credit cards that can earn you some pretty neat rebates for public transport. We won’t go into the full list here, but these are the 2 more popular credit cards for public transport:
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- Cash Back on Online Spend & Visa Contactless
- Up to 5%
- Min. Spend
- S$600
- Cash Back Cap
- Up to S$75
While both credit cards offer high rebates (5% or 8%) on your bus and MRT rides, note that you need to spend at least $600 (DBS Live Fresh) or $800 (Maybank Family & Friends) a month to earn them.
If you’re not very keen on having to hit a minimum spend, use one of these fuss-free cashback cards to earn 1.5% or more off your transport spending.
- Cash Back on Eligible Spend
- 1.6%
- Min. Spend per month
- S$0
- Cash Back Cap
- Unlimited
Apply and Spend $500 to get a Google Pixel 6A Smartphone (worth $749) OR Nintendo Switch OLED (worth S$549) OR eCapitaVouchers (worth S$380) OR S$300 Cash via PayNow. T&Cs apply.
4. Prefer EZ-Link? Use the Citibank SMRT Card
You may prefer to stick to the tried-and-true EZ-Link for bus and MRT rides. Well, there’s a credit card for that too: the Citibank SMRT Card.
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- Cash Back on Eligible Spend
- 5%
- Cash Back Cap per year
- S$600
- Min. Spend per month
- S$500
The Citi SMRT Card is one of the best for public transport — it doubles up as a EZ-Link card that can auto-reload. By doing this, you can earn 5% rebates on your public transport spending provided you meet the minimum spend of $500 a month.
It also rewards you for groceries and online spending, so consolidating your expenses on this card shouldn’t be too difficult.
5. Get a public transport concession card (maybe)
I’ll just put it out there: Singaporeans and PRs can get an Adult Concession Card that costs $128 for one month’s worth of unlimited bus and MRT rides.
You’ll need to travel A LOT to actually benefit from it so it’s probably not worth it for most people, unless you have a daily cross-country commute.
Not sure how much you spend on public transport in a given month? You can calculate your fares with the MRT fare calculator and bus fare calculator to see if the concession card is worthwhile.
Note that there’s also a one-time fee of $8.10 (includes $5 card cost and $3.10 personalisation fee) if you’re getting this travel pass for the first time.
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