Fifty-nine passengers and 23 bus drivers were issued infringement notices and fined $150 each by the Land Transport Authority during their campaign to clamp down on E-Ticketing infringements in the West.

Now the LTA is busy doing the same in the Central Division. The exercise involved LTA Enforcement Officers boarding buses and checking if passengers had their tickets from the E-Ticketing machines.

LTA chief executive Samuel Simpson said the objective was to ensure that at least 50 per cent of the bus passengers in the Western Division who normally used the bus service as their primary transportation mode were guided and coached within the two-week awareness exercises.

Mrs Simpson said LTA monitored the different types of cards used by passengers, under charging of bus fare by drivers by the use of cash payment to maximise passenger load capacity for a scheduled trip and also created awareness on fraudulent abuse of Concessionary Cards.

He added LTA expected the bus companies to follow up and take disciplinary action in regards to drivers taking cash fares from bus passengers.

He said these drivers have been issued with Traffic Infringement Notices.

“There will be an ongoing monitoring process in order to ensure that E-Transport revenue protection activity is ongoing and intelligence led to provide maximum detection and deterrent,” Mr Simpson said.

“LTA makes it abundantly clear that bus passengers must pay the correct fare using their E-Transport card.

Concessionary cards must not be abused or passed onto unauthorised users.

“Bus passengers are reminded that they must not pay for bus fares with cash handed to the driver where no ticket is provided.

Evidence that the correct fare has been paid is provided by the ticket printed from the on-bus ticket machine.”

Edited by Susana Tuilau