Tan Kin Lian - Perspectives Simply Go is a good platform for the future
There will be a significant saving in operating cost when the Land Transport Authority move completely to the Simply Go system in a year or two. It is very costly to operate two systems.
We should support the move by LTA to reduce the operating costs. It will reduce the deficit incurred by LTA now and reduce the pressure to increase the fares.

A few memes were created and virally circulated to compare the fare systems adopted in several cities. These memes suggested that the Simply Go system in Singapore is backward.

The comparison is flawed. Most of the fare systems adopted in other cities are a hybrid system that is costly to operate. They are similar to the hybrid system that LTA operates now. LTA is taking a bold step to move ahead to an integrated and cost efficient system.

I expect LTA to face some hiccups in transferring the existing Ez Link and concession cards to the Simply Go system. They will be able to sort out the real problems ( but not the imaginary ones that some people anticipate).

When the integrated Simply Go system is operating smoothly, I suggest that LTA take the next step in promoting the use of the Simply Go card for retail payments, including payment at hawker stalls.
In the future, the Simply Go card can replace the CDC vouchers that are costly to administer. Instead of issuing CDC vouchers, the government can top up the Simply Go wallets.

I have studied the fare payment systems used in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. I understand the technical details behind the operation of these systems.

I believe that many of the virally shared criticisms of the Simply Go system are mistaken or exaggerated.

Earlier, I also held a negative opinion about Simply Go and encountered some difficulty with the app. I have now changed my general opinion about it. There are still features in the app that are unnecessary and confusing, but I will ignore them.

More important, I can see the benefits that can be realized from moving totally to Simply Go.

Tan Kin Lian

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