6 Singapore Public Transport Tips

We have some tips for people taking Singapore's public transport every day!
These tips (or hacks) are what we know of and use, but I am sure it is not all available.
Do share with us if you have more tips so that we can help one another travel more efficiently.

1) Keep your Travel Transfer within 45 Mins
Keep your transfer between travel to within 45 minutes.
If you keep each transfer within 45 minutes, it will be considered as 1 trip.
However, if you exceed the 45 minutes, it will be considered as 2 trips.

Eg;
I take bus 222 from location A to location B, it will cost $0.78 (the boarding fee or minimum fare).
I took another bus, bus 333 immediately from location B to location C, my fare is built up from the previous $0.78. You do not need to pay the boarding fee again.

However, if you waited for 50 minutes, then board bus 333 from location B to location C, you will need to repay the $0.78 boarding fee.

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2) You can take up to 5 transfers with one MRT ride in between
Of course, this does not mean you must take 5 transfers in 1 ride.
The max possible combination is below:
B-B-B-B-B
B-B-B-B-T
B-B-B-T-B
B-B-T-B-B
B-T-B-B-B
T-B-B-B-B

*B = Bus
*T = Train
However, don't take 2 train trips in a 2 hours slots as it will be considered as 2 trips.
So if you must, take a train from your location to your destination then bus back to your location

3) Taking 2 same bus = 2 trips
Do not take 2 of the same bus in a single trip as it will be counted as 2 trips instead of 1.
If it is considered as 1 trip, fares are built upon the minimum fare ($0.78).
However, if it is considered as 2 trips, you end up paying the minimum fare twice!

Eg;
I take bus 222 from location A to location B, it cost me $0.78 (the boarding fee or minimum fare).
Within the next 45 minutes, if I take bus 222 from location B back to location A, I will be charged the boarding fee ($0.78) again.
However, if I take bus 444 from location B to location A, I do not need to pay the boarding fee. My bus fare will be built up on top of my previous trip.

4) Travel within a 2-Hour Time Frame
In addition to keeping your transfer between rides within 45 minutes, you also have to keep all these tappings within a 2-hour time frame.
If you tap in your card 2 hours after your first tap, it will be considered as a new trip.

Eg;
You board bus 222 at 2.00pm. Assuming you did 2 transfers between 2.00pm to 4.00pm. At 4.01pm, when you tap bus 444, it will be considered as a new trip.

Another Eg;
You board bus 222 at 2.00pm to location A. You completed your tasking and board bus 444 to location B at 2.35pm. This trip will be considered as a transfer trip and no boarding fee is incurred.
Then you finished the second tasking and boarded bus 333 at 3.05pm at location C. You reached location D at 3.45pm.
After which, you boarded bus 555 at location E at 4.05pm. This 4th trip is considered a new trip as it has passed the 2-hour mark at which you started travelling at 2.00pm. Hence, you will need to pay a boarding fee at this point again.

If you tap out your card 2 hours after your first tap, it is still considered as 1 trip.
Eg;
I board bus 222 at 2.00pm to location B, I then took bus 333 to location C. I alighted at my destination at 4.01pm. My whole trip will still be considered as 1 single trip.

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5) Buy Travel Pass (aka Concession Card)
Buy Concession Card if you travel excessively via public transport
Yes! There are adult concession cards available and you can actually apply for one HERE.
There are actually 2 different type of concession cards:

So if you are traveling frequently at off-peak timings, I recommend buying the OPP to cut down on your travel expenses.
For more information on the Concession Cards, click HERE.
So if you spend around $4 every day on public transport for 5 days a week, you might want to consider getting a Travel Pass

6) Sign up for Travel Smart Rewards
This is icing on the cake.
In addition to reducing your transport costs via concession pass, you can also sign up for Travel Smart Rewards to win money while traveling!
The only sad thing is you only gain rewards if you travel via trains (bus rides don't qualify).
We will be writing a post on Travel Smart Rewards soon, so stay tuned!

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