Dear readers, ever since the government earlier announced that all our commuter cards need to be switched over to SimplyGo, I simply could not bring my mind to even think about it.
This is simply because once one migrates over to SimplyGo for the commuter card, there will be no longer any fare balance to be displayed whenever one exits from the trains and buses, unlike the current card which I am still using.
Hence, despite all the previous announcements to migrate over to SimplyGo, I had adopted a mentality to migrate over to SimplyGo only near to the closing timeline of the migration.
Today, I and I believe many welcome the government move to halt the SimplyGo initiative!
The display of the fare deduction when one exits from the public commute is very important and a basic pre-requisite to the consumption of goods and services, I must say.
For example, when one procures good and services, one will always be informed how much one has spent right after the transaction right? Rather than not knowing how much one has paid for goods and services after the transaction and have to instead resort to logging into an app or portal on how much one has spent, after some time from time of the transaction. The above principle applies to transport fees and it is an important one considering that transport services are basic services procured by many, not often by choice but by necessity, as example for commuting to work.
Also, the display of how much fare one has paid for can help commuters double check on whether fees have been deducted correctly given that no matter how reliable machines can be, they are after all subject to downtime. Without any display of fees deducted, how can commuters know whether they have been deducted correctly for their fees?
Last but not least, with display of fares deduction, I would think that commuters will be urged to save more by the mere estimation of knowing roughly how much one has spent on transport in the day or for a period of time. With SimplyGo not having any fare deduction displayed upfront, I akin it to using a credit card but without any receipt to show how much fare has been used after each transaction. A SimplyGo card (without any fare display) could be subject to excessive use as a commuter may simply use it for excessive and unnecessary travel, without thinking on how much is spent.
The current card -based system displaying fare deducted will only encourage commuters to save more, as commuters will be able to know upfront how much they have spent on transport. This knowledge is especially important in this current climate when many of us are trying to save a little more each day when many of the things are getting more and more expensive.
I Thank the government for making a what many called a U-turn on the SimplyGo initiative as it is the only right thing to do. Our transport system should always display how much fare one has spent at the end of a journey, similar to the good old days when I still recall receiving a small bus ticket showing the fare that I paid right after making payment upon entering the bus.
No doubt, we can have innovation of our commute payment system but let us continue to make it such that it conveniences many and let us continue to make it such that commuters know how much they pay at end of each transaction (i.e. each trip), exactly just like how much we do so for all goods and services!
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