The Singapore Tourist Pass is the only pass that offers tourists unlimited rides on Singapore’s public transport system which includes the MRT, LRT and basic bus services. This excludes Express, Fast Forward, Night Rider, Night Owl, Chinatown Direct and other premium and niche bus services. The Pass also comes bundled with exclusive merchant offerings especially packaged for tourist who purchase the Pass.

The Pass is a product of EZ-Link Pte Ltd and is developed with the support of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). The Pass is also issued with the Public Transport Guide which has information on how to get around Singapore using public transport.

There are two designs: a day scene or a night scene of the Singapore Central Business District skyline. The Pass’s base-colour is red and it is credit-card-sized. A sample of the front of both card designs are shown in Figure 1 below.


Figure 1: The Singapore Tourist Pass with the day scene of Singapore CBD (left); night scene of Singapore CBD (right)

All tourists visiting Singapore can purchase The Singapore Tourist Pass. All they have to do is produce the White Disembarkation Card and their passport.

Locals who wish to purchase the STP are welcome to do so.

The Singapore Tourist Pass is available at an introductory price of S$8 per day and comes with 3 options of a 1-Day, 2-Day or 3-Day pass.

Passes bought or issued in Singapore at authorised sales counters come with a rental deposit of S$10 which is refundable, so long as the card is returned within 5 days of issuance.

By March 2008, passes can be purchased online for delivery overseas. Passes sold or delivered overseas will be at an introductory price of either S$18 for a 1-Day pass, S$26 for a 2-day pass or S$34 for a 3-Day pass. The rental of cards is not possible for cards sold or issued overseas.

Prices quoted for cards sold or issued overseas exclude delivery charges.

Locals who wish to purchase the STP are welcome to do so.

•  For a start, from December 12th 2007 onwards, the Pass will be available for sale at designated TransitLink Ticket Offices at the following MRT Stations-:
  
  

Each tourist is entitled to purchase only one STP at a time. They can only buy another pass when their previous pass expires.

You can either opt to:

• Purchase another pass, as the card reverts to a normal ez-link adult card upon expiry or,
• Top up the card with cash at any of the TransitLink Ticket Offices or Passenger Service Counters at MRT stations and use the card like a normal ez-link card to pay for bus and train fares or make purchases at retail outlets like McDonalds, 7-Eleven and selected F&N Coca-Cola vending machines located islandwide.

The pass can also be topped up using cash at all General Ticketing Machines or 7-Eleven Convenience Stores. Please note that top-ups at 7-Eleven come with a convenience fee of S$0.30 per top-up.

If you tap an expired pass on the bus or train reader, you will hear multiple beeps. A red light will flash and the words Insufficient Funds will be displayed on the LCD screen to warn you that you have not paid for the fare. If you are on the bus, please pay for the fare with cash. If you are at a train station, please proceed to the Passenger Service Counter to top-up the card with cash.

Please note that it is an offence to evade paying fares for public transport in Singapore. Staff of the public transport operators are authorised to retain the card should they believe a person is fraudulently using the card to avoid paying the appropriate fare.

This depends on your intended travel plans around Singapore. MRT fares range from S$0.66 to S$3.04 while bus fares range from S$0.67 to S$1.58 for a single trip when paying by ez-link card.

Step 1
As you enter the front passenger door of the bus, tap your pass on the reader that is in front of you. A green light accompanied with a beep sound will indicate a successful read process.

Step 2
When you have reached your destination, before alighting from the bus, tap your pass on the reader before you disembark to complete the write process.

Note that it is important for you to perform the two easy steps above to ensure that your bus or train fare is recognized as paid for.

When entering and exiting a train station, you merely have to tap the card at the gate reader. So long as the pass is valid, the gate will open and there will be a green light at the reader indicating that the pass is still valid and the fare has been paid.

For passes sold in Singapore (from 12 December 2007)
The duration of validity of the pass starts from the time the pass is issued to you. The pass will remain valid for use for the duration of the number of days purchased (i.e. 1-Day, 2-Day or 3-Day pass), up to the end of the operational hours for MRT, LRT and basic bus services on the last day.

This means that the validity of the pass is pegged to the operational hours of MRT and LRT trains and basic bus services, and not upon the 24hr clock of a normal calendar day. For example, if a tourist purchases a 1-Day pass at 1700 (5pm), the pass is good for use till the end of that operational day for basic bus and train services, which is typically about 0030 (12.30am) or the early hours of the next calendar day.

Hence, on the last day, the card will expire when these public transport operators have ceased operations. If your pass is about to expire, you may refer to Q5 to see what options you have, should you be extending your stay in Singapore.

As a recommendation to tourists, we advise that you spend some time to plan your itinerary and purchase a pass with the duration that would most suit your itinerary.

For passes sold or delivered overseas (By March 2008)
The pass remains good for use for 1 year. The duration on which the card can be used starts from the very first tap of the card on a MRT and LRT fare gate reader or basic bus service reader here in Singapore and will remain valid for use for the duration of the pass that was purchased, till the end of the operational day for basic bus and train services.

Basic bus services run from 5.00am till 12:00 midnight while MRT and LRT trains can run from 5:30am to 12:30am.

When you first purchase the pass, it does not come with any money encoded into the card. Should you wish to use it for purchases at McDonalds, 7-Eleven or at selected F&N Coca-Cola vending machines that accept ez-link card payments, you would have to encode money into the card.

To encode money into the card, please proceed to any TransitLink Ticket Office, or Passenger Service Centre located at any MRT station. The STP can also be topped up using cash at all General Ticketing Machines (GTM) or at 7-Eleven convenience stores. Please note that top-ups at 7-Eleven come with a convenience fee of S$0.30 per top-up.

Besides enjoying unlimited rides on MRT and LRT trains and basic bus services, you may use the pass to redeem the offers at selected merchants as well. You can review some of the current Merchant Offers at the “Merchant Offerings” section of this website. All you need to do is flash your pass and submit the relevant coupons in the Welcome Pack to redeem your privileges.

The way the system is set up is for the reader to detect a pass first before it deducts any money from your card. If the pass remains valid, no money is deducted for the ride. But once the pass expires, the card will function like a normal ez-link card with available funds being deducted from the card.

If you are unsure and suspect that the money encoded on the card may have been erroneously deducted while your pass remains valid, you can approach any of the Ticket Office or Authorised Sales Agents for assistance.

If you choose to keep the card, you will forgo the card rental deposit along with any remaining value on the card that you may have encoded on it. Alternatively you can also run down the stored value on the card.

From December 12th onwards – you can return the card at any of the designated TransitLink Ticket Offices located at the following MRT Stations:

a) Designated TransitLink Ticket Offices at the following MRT Stations from December 12th 2007 onwards -:

No.

You have 5 calendar days to return the card. If it is not retuned by the 5th day, the card rental deposit will be forfeited. Please note the operational hours in Q19.

There are no concessionary rates for children or senior citizens.

If you need assistance with regard to using the public transport or advise on how to get to a particular destination, please call TransitLink’s Hotline 1800 225 5663.

Yes. However, do note that the Singapore Tourist Pass is based on the ‘rent a card scheme’ (Q9) to keep costs economical for users.

Every card has a lifespan of 5 years from the date it was first issued. Although your pass is freshly encoded for your use, you may be holding a card that has been rented out several times before.

Prior to departure, it is important to check the exact expiry date of your card at any General Ticketing Machine (GTM) or Add Value Machine(AVM). After the card has expired, it would not be usable like a normal ez-link card. Upon your return to Singapore, and if your card remains usable, please note that you can only use the card as a normal ez-link card and would not be able to encode it with another pass.

You can call STB’s touristline 1800 736 2000.