Photo: Nura Ling/TODAY
On 9 January 2024, it was announced that The Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) was moving towards discontinuing the NETS FlashPay card and some adult EZ-Link cards for use on buses and trains as the ticketing system neared the end of its operational lifespan.
However, the announcement was met with backlash from the public as many cited concerns over commuters facing difficulty upgrading their cards and not being able to see their fare balances.
Photo: Mothership
In light of the public outcry, the LTA has u-turned on their decision and the newly appointed transport minister, Mr Chee Hong Tat, has announced that the Government will be spending an additional S$40 million for hardware replacement, system maintenance to extend the existing ticketing system.
This move was met with approvals from the public and some criticism over the LTA’s decision-making abilities.
Nevertheless, the public can once again breathe with relief as it was further announced that adult commuters who have purchased a SimplyGo EZ-Link card previously, or converted their EZ-Link cards to SimplyGo EZ-Link cards between Jan 9 and Jan 22, now have the option to switch back to the previous card for free.
More details on the card exchange will be available by the end of February as the LTA works to prepare its operations for the card exchange, to minimise further inconvenience to commuters.
