We refer to Ms Suann Tan’s letter ‘Enhance pre-peak travel incentives for poly students’ (TODAY, 10 Jul 2014) asking LTA to consider extending free travel to polytechnic students who travel outside of the city area to help manage their travel costs.

The free pre-peak travel is a demand management initiative targeted to ease crowding during the morning peak hour along the most crowded stretches of the rail network, which are typically city-bound routes. We hope this encourages commuters to make changes to their travel patterns to enter the city area before the morning peak hour.

If more commuters shift out of morning peak travel, other commuters will find it easier to board the trains and enjoy a less crowded ride even though they may not exit from the 18 city stations. Commuters travelling outside the city area can also join the ‘Incentives for Singapore’s Commuters’, or INSINC scheme to accumulate points for rewards when they travel during off-peak hours. More details can be found at www.insinc.com.sg.

The free pre peak travel scheme is therefore not intended to defray public transport expenditures. On this front, all the monthly concession pass prices for polytechnic students were reduced by close to 50% from 6 April 2014. These passes also now allow unlimited trips on buses and trains.