COST OF LIVING/Kaohsiung metro, tram to end discount for stored-value card users

Kaohsiung, Oct. 25 (CNA) Passengers using stored-value cards to pay for rides on the metro and light rail services in Kaohsiung will no longer enjoy a 15 percent fare discount from Nov. 1, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. announced Friday.

The company that operates both metro and tram services in Kaohsiung said it decided to discontinue the 15 percent discount introduced in 2008, because it faces growing costs from electricity rate hikes, increases in the minimum wage and inflation, in a press statement.

The discount was introduced during Kaohsiung Metro's first year of operations to encourage passengers to use stored-value cards, such as iPass and EasyCard, and 96 percent of passengers have gone cashless, according to the company.

However, the 15 percent discount has cost the company around NT$2.4 billion (US$74.82 million) since 2008, it said.

The company said that the move to end the 15 percent discount will have little impact on commuters, because most currently use the TPass for discounted fares on Kaohsiung Metro, buses and trains.

Kaohsiung Metro's fares have remained unchanged since the launch of the city's first metro line, despite inflation, electricity rate hikes and increases in the minimum wage over the past 16 years, the company said.

Electricity rates were raised 15 percent in 2022, 17 percent in 2023, 14 percent in April and another 14 percent in October, according to the company, which estimates the hikes and its decision to provide air conditioning all day will add NT$190 million to its electricity bill in 2025.

The company said it began providing all day air conditioning in underground stations from June 30 in response to a rebound in ridership in the post COVID-19 period.

In 2023, the company posted a net loss of NT$51,395,000, despite a 42.3 percent year-on-year surge in ticket income, according to the financial report available on the company's official website.

Kaohsiung's metro services posted an average daily ridership of 180,734 in September, up 20.67 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the company.