Oral Reply by Senior Parliamentary Secretary Baey Yam Keng to Parliamentary Question on Senior Citizens Concession Scheme

Miss Cheng Li Hui asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     what is the current number and percentage of Singaporeans who are on the various public transport concession schemes and how do the figures compare to those five years ago;

b.     whether there are assessments done on the number of Singaporeans especially senior citizens who are likely to be on the concession scheme by 2020 and 2030 as a result of our aging population; and

c.     whether the senior citizens concession scheme has resulted in more travels by senior citizens.

Reply by Senior Parliamentary Secretary Baey Yam Keng:

1.     Over the last 5 years, the number of Singapore Residents holding concession cards increased from 1.4 million to 1.8 million. These include students, full-time National Servicemen and senior citizens. We have also recently included persons with disabilities and Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) beneficiaries to the concessions framework in 2014.

2.     The concession scheme for senior citizens, which accounts for more than 40% of residents with concession cards, aims to recognise their contributions towards our nation. By 2020, we expect that there will be close to 900,000 Singapore Residents aged 60 years old and above who will qualify. Over the last 5 years, the average number of journeys made by senior citizens has increased by around 50% while the number of senior citizen concession pass holders rose by around 30%. This suggests that senior citizens are making more trips, which could be due to reasons other than the concession.