With an increasing ageing of Singapore’s population and overcrowding on the MRT trains and juxtaposed on these two trends, the nonchalant attitude of MRT passengers towards giving up seats to those who need them more, I can imagine 30 years down the road, there will be many elderly passengers standing on trains.
If our current “reserved seats attitude” do not change, I think one day, we would need a two-tiered fee structure for our MRT trains by charging less for those who will stand and charging more for those who need a seat on the trains. Seating on the MRT trains will then be a right for those who need it and no longer be a privilege when travelling on the MRT. Will this be a more equitable seating system on our MRT trains?