SINGAPORE - More than 3,000 people with disabilities who take dedicated transport to attend special education (Sped) schools and community-based programmes can expect to pay less from tomorrow, with the enhancement of a transport subsidy scheme for this group. 

Additional transport subsidies through the Enabling Transport Subsidy (ETS) will apply to people with disabilities with a monthly per capita household income of up to $2,800, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said yesterday.

The scheme was formerly known as the Voluntary Welfare Organisation Transport Subsidy, which was launched in 2014.

For example, a wheelchair user with a monthly per capita household income of up to $800, who pays $280 for subsidised transport, will pay about $170 from tomorrow.

A wheelchair user with a monthly per capita household income of just below $2,800, who now pays $450 after subsidy, will pay $410 with the enhanced subsidy. 

Mr Abhimanyau Pal, chief executive of SPD, a social service agency that serves people with disabilities, said: “The introduction of the enhanced ETS scheme is timely in view of the rising cost of living. This will help alleviate the financial strains faced by persons with disabilities we serve who are from low-income families.”

On why the transport subsidies were increased, MSF said in its statement that it “regularly reviews our schemes to ensure that adequate support is provided” to people with disabilities and their caregivers.

The ministry said the enhanced ETS will cost the Government an additional $2 million a year, an increase of about 20 per cent from current funding levels.

It is also part of a suite of initiatives under the Enabling Masterplan 2030 (EMP2030), which aims to mould Singapore into a caring and inclusive society.

“We want to empower persons with disabilities to participate fully as integral, contributing members of society,” Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Eric Chua, who is the co-chairman of the EMP2030 steering committee, said in a Facebook post yesterday.

“I look forward to sharing more about what we can do together under EMP2030 to make Singapore more caring and inclusive.”

Other than getting the ETS, people with disabilities can apply for a concession card. Cardholders get 25 per cent off adult fares with no additional fares for distances beyond 7.2km.

If they cannot take public transport, they can apply for the taxi subsidy scheme to take taxis or private-hire vehicles to work, school or employment-related training.

Those who are eligible can get up to 80 per cent off the taxi fare.

Additionally, students in government-funded Sped schools who are under the Sped financial assistance scheme will be insured by NTUC Income from tomorrow. 

To support more children and young people in need, the insurer announced yesterday that it will expand its Income Family Micro- Insurance Scheme to cover this group, and children from Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens who are under the Early Childhood Development Agency’s Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme, as well as students in independent schools who are under MOE’s Independent School Bursary.

About 54,000 eligible students here, up from over 46,500 students currently, will be insured with this expansion.

The scheme pays out $5,000 to families if a parent or guardian of an eligible student dies or suffers total permanent disability.

To date, the insurance scheme has disbursed over $1.86 million in claims to more than 330 families.