More incentives for commuters in north-east S’pore to avoid morning peak travel on MRT from Jan. 2, 2025

The programme to incentivise public transport users in the north-east of Singapore to adjust their commute away from busier segments of the MRT network during the morning peak period will be expanded from Jan. 2, 2025.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will enhance the Travel Smart Journeys (TSJ) initiative to provide enhanced incentives and include more eligible bus options.

For the first time, the initiative will also provide incentives to commuters who shift their commutes outside the morning peak period.

The incentives will be for eligible commuters who begin their morning commutes in the northeast region of Singapore.

Receiving incentives

Commuters who have successfully registered for the scheme will receive points each time their journey meets one of the two criteria.

One of the criteria, re-moding, involves a shift from taking the North East Line (NEL) to any eligible bus services during the morning operational hours between 6:20am and 9:30am.

The other criteria, re-timing, involves tapping in at Punggol Coast, Punggol, Sengkang, Hougang or Buangkok North East Line (NEL) stations, or any Sengkang or Punggol LRT station, either before 7:15am (pre-peak), or between 8:45am and 9:45am (post-peak); and tap-out at any MRT or LRT station, excluding stations on the Punggol and Sengkang LRT lines.

This is on top of the existing Morning Pre-Peak Fare Scheme savings of up to S$0.50 for those who tap-in before 7:45am at any rail station on weekdays.

Redeeming points

Commuters participating in the initiative can redeem their points in 500-point blocks, which is equivalent to S$5, for cash value into their travel cards.

How much savings?

For example, a commuter who taps in at Sengkang station to reach Raffles Place station in the morning will enjoy discounted fares by shifting travel to the following pre- or post-peak periods.

LTA said a smaller discount is offered before and after the main incentive period between 9am and 9:30am so that commuters do not have to rush or deliberately delay their journeys, which may cause crowding and reduce the effectiveness of the programme.

New rewards structure

Under the enhanced rewards structure, eligible commuters will receive points equivalent to up to 80 per cent of their journey fares if they switch to eligible bus services, or shift their travel to before or after the peak period on the NEL.

This is compared to receiving points worth an equivalent of S$1.50 per eligible trip under the old rewards scheme.

More bus services

Commuters switching to Service 43e and City Direct Services (CDS) 654, 660, 666, 671, 672 and 673 will continue to be eligible for the incentives.

LTA will also extend the initiative to new bus services CDS 660M, and upcoming CDS 675, 676, 677, and 678.

These services connect residents in the northeast region to major employment centres in the Central Business District, as well as MacPherson and Paya Lebar.

Enrolment for programme

Commuters who travel from the northeast region during the morning peak are eligible for the programme.

Those who have tapped in between 7:15am and 8:45am at Punggol Coast, Punggol, Sengkang, Buangkok or Hougang MRT stations, or any station along the Punggol and Sengkang LRT lines, on at least six weekdays — excluding public holidays — over the past 30 calendar days are eligible to apply for the programme.

Registration

To qualify for the incentives, eligible users, including concession cardholders and EZ-Link/ NETS Prepaid/ NETS FlashPay cardholders, need to register for the initiative via the SimplyGo app, under the Services tab.

Active participants in the previous iteration of the scheme, such as those who have earned points in the last six months, will be automatically enrolled in the enhanced scheme from Jan. 2, 2025.

They need not re-register.

Inactive users, such as those who have not earned points in the last six months, will receive an email invitation to re-register, and will be eligible for incentives if they meet the enrolment criteria.

Background of Travel Smart Journeys (TSJ) programme

The TSJ programme was launched in 2020 as a trial and expanded in 2023.

It was temporarily suspended on Nov. 25 to facilitate systems upgrades.

There were about 21,400 eligible TSJ participants before the suspension.

Some 1,240 commuters benefitted from rebates totalling S$66,000 between March 2023 and November 2024.

In the first half of 2024, the NEL had an average daily ridership of 588,000 passenger trips, just shy of the 601,000 daily trips made in 2019.

Top photo via Google Maps