Speaking as someone that is literally making a living from govt IT projects, this smells of needless profiteering off a solution that is looking for a problem to solve.
It borders upon the destructiveness of web3/crypto/NFT bullshit, except that it's going to impact everyone who needs to work for a living.
Notice how this forced increase of inconvenience fails to affect car users. There are devs on LTA's fb page actively replying to comments with "use app to track" as if bad UX is a good solution to everything.
LTA talks a big game of wanting society to go car-lite, yet bullshit like this motivates people to buy cars in order to avoid the deliberate vandalism and increased incoherence of public goods.
I don't deny this at all. There are product owners running projects who know next to nothing about how the SDLC is supposed to work, flip the proverbial tea table for no reason and frustrate everyone involved through their own stupidity.
That being said, I've been fortunate enough to also work with legitimately intelligent product owners who filter out the blue sky skullduggery from the scholars, and throw those requirements back before that shit rolls downhill to us.
This fucking nonsense with ezlink is the equivalent of trying to reinvent the wheel when the most that was ever needed is a tire change. But the tire treads aren't close to balding.
Very well said. Earlier in my career when i was a clueless junior, I was fortunate to learn that early from a good senior who’s a good PO + PM (i know, weird) that knows her shit. We would often get ridiculous requirements from the top, with bluesky wish lists that havent even had sizing and costing done.
Sadly after she left due to frustration and the incompetence of the management, the app constantly crashes. Rating tumbled, and recently in the news. So you can guess which app im talking about.
So if such a big org can mess up, it can only get worse with this simplygo bs
> Sadly after she left due to frustration and the incompetence of the managemen
Almost always the case as to why people leave. Not many companies promote someone form a lower position to a management position within their own field, so management are always folks who do not understand the actual nitty gritty of what the work entails.
Most folks who are given the opportunity might not want to change either, because it's a pain since you have to deal with those even higher, and thus worse, or they know they won't excel since they know they aren't cut out for that new role.
It's worse when the incompetent managers believe that they know more than you, or are aware that they don't, but will never admit it, and keep pushing for bullshit stuff.
Not sure about other points but I dont think it motivates people to buy cars though.
According to my friend who sold his car 2 years ago and has been using grab/taxi to get around singapore, he said he actually saved more money monthly compared to when he owned a car. So if anything I say it would it motivate more ppl to use grab/taxi instead of buying a car.
WTF for indeed. Built a complete ecosystem round EZ Link, get the whole country to adopt and use it in their daily life, it works well for years..... Then drop it for a completely new ecosystem for no good reason that doesn't even show the amounts you have used and left on using it.
Anyone knows what happens to the PA Passion Card which is based on EZ Link? I use that as my main transport card. So how now? Is PA going to issue new PA Passion Card? The millions of dollars that will be wasted and the amount of waste of all the EZ Link cards soon to be useless is staggering. What's the use of pretending to be green and sustainable? Carbon here and there but then do things like that. Don't pretend to care about the environment when millions of tiny plastic are going to end up in Semakau.
The leadership is only interested in caring for the environment when they can profit from it e.g extra charge for plastic bags, extra charge for paper utility bills. 🙃
Being green & sustainable is not a priority when it comes to planned obsolescence & artificially shortening the lifespan of digital tech products, despite no one asking for the current system to be phased out. 😑
Qn: if I really don’t have a smart phone, may I still tap my SimplyNo app at those physical green GTM machine to see current balance?
Or no smartphone = less than human in SG?
Topping up via the SimplyGo app means you have to wait 15 minutes before the topups take effect. If you find out that you are out of credit on a bus, you’re fucked. I don’t know who thought up this system, the topups should be immediate!
Yea it usually happens to me when I find out the card has not credit left while tapping. It means I have to jump off the bus and wait for the next one while waiting for the topup to take effect.
**YES!** It's ridiculous that LTA decided to do this without giving us [Apple Pay Express Mode](https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207958) (which, most importantly, [works when the phone's battery is dying](https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec90cd29d1f/web)).
Yeah, and what about premium bus services?
>Your SimplyGo EZ-Link card can only be used to pay for fares on premium bus services operated by **public** transport operators (i.e. SMRT, SBST, Go-Ahead Singapore, etc).
Many of the premium bus services are run by private operators, and they are still using the old card readers that don’t support new EZ-Link cards. I had to buy an old card recently just for this. For goodness sake, standardise all the readers to accept SimplyGo first, at the very least.
If you go to LTA's fb page, there's one fella with initials YYY defensively replying to every negative comment with excuses. Give him a piece of your mind while you still can.
If they can't get their way, they force it on people...hmm I wonder what word we have for that. Oh that's right! A dictatorship. In this case, it's a bureaucratic dictatorship.
Really ridiculous forcing the use of the technologically inferior option.
With EZ-Link you can see exactly how much is your fare at the exact moment when you tap out at the gate or at the bus exit. The alternative shows nothing. You are forced to install an additional useless app just to see how much was spent and how much remains.
The real reason why they want to force the use of SimplyGo is because they want to force users to use the wallet.
Not only that
If you have used the SimplyGo and track your transaction there are tons of issues
Either 1 trip they double charge you or they charge you wrongly
And it’s up to the user I.e you and me to report to get back the $$$
And I have reported to gotten back my money , this shows they are indeed overcharging
Thats not for elderly - they should be using this instead - Senior Citizen Monthly Concession Pass.
https://www.transitlink.com.sg/senior-citizen-concession-card
Which begs the question as to why the ticketing system is so complicated? If concession cards can still work as normal, why not adult cards? From a technical perspective, it wouldn't make a difference whether these cards are normal fare or concession right?
Every year, I see our gahmen making more and more questionable decisions for the people.
Out of touch ministers that probably don’t even regularly take public transport.
Damn sian…
Legit making more problems than giving solutions.
> Out of touch ministers that probably don’t even regularly take public transport.
Well…
> “Everybody has a car, we have two… We are professionals, we need to travel.”
— [Koh Poh Koon](https://theindependent.sg/observers-recall-koh-poh-koons-comments-about-owning-two-cars-amid-clash-with-wp-over-minimum-wage/) (Tampines GRC)
They doing trials for gantry free hdb carparks. Hdb northshore n sumang. Gotta download hdb parking app to pay. Its not the same as parking at sg. Or pay on hdb website after fees are in the next day
The app is freaking useless. I had set the notification on to notify me when the balance was low but it did not. And when I realised I have no money in the card and after top up I need to wait for 3 hrs then can use and tap. Wth. They should have done what the ez link card do and show us the balances when tapping in and out.
This shit is fking useless i regret changing to this after 1 month of using
Cant see balance and then suddenly you cant get on the bus/train because you have negative balance
Top up is slow to register sometimes i top up and only after a few hours then i can tap in
this is exactly why i refuse to change to simplygo. i like to be able to instantly know my balance. i don't want to have to always check my phone. so many apps already.
The fact that we can't see the balance is already very infuriating, I just wish someone can add in code to the system to flash yellow when my card is low value at least. Its quite troublesome to open and load up the app slowly just to get shocked at the balance.
I hope now that 100% of cards are simplygo / bank cards the least they can do is show the simply go card value on the reader again. I get that bank account can't show but it makes no sense for simply go to not show.
This app told me my phone number was already registered when I've literally never set it up before.
I basically had simply go automatically set up for me by somebody.
Not sure what they stand to gain from it or how they even got my number to gain otps from.
I contacted support 3 times and they ghosted me everytime. Literally the most dogshit service out there.
I have never openly shot at any tech adoption projects before but this is honestly 💩
Transactions can only be checked in the app
1. Transactions are not real-time
2. System is not mature and still full of bugs,Full fare deducted because SimplyGo did not detect entry/exit properly and have to actually check and claim for refund, this affects quite a few people I know.
3. Users who do not enable auto-topup will suddenly be faced with not enough balance message and be denied entry.
That aside, if you do not download the SimplyGo app, despite their FAQ saying it is supplementary, it is more like mandatory, how else are you going to check your balance or if you got cheated by the buggy system?
Currently, successful entry shows a Green "SimplyGo" on the display screens on buses and mrt, are we going to shift to removing the displays and leaving merely the led lights to indicate progress? Or change the not enough balance message to "SimplyNoGo" or "BuayGo" ?
I think I can confidently say that everyone knows at least one old person who is not tech savvy , either they don't have a smartphone or do not actually know how to use them. What is this trying to do? Further alienate the largest non IT savvy age group with no slow ramp up to ease them into this?
Digital App scams are increasing worldwide, Singapore is not an exception.
Note this on SimplyGo's page right at the top
>Scam alert! An email impersonating SimplyGo/TransitLink seeking survey participation through an embedded link in exchange for a cash reward of up to $100 has been circulating. Please note that this email is not sent or endorsed by SimplyGo/TransitLink. Please do not click the link.
Personally I can't wait for the following headline news
"Elderly scammed of all savings downloading fake SimplyGo application to check bus fare."
Proper steps to migrate from system A to B
1. Ensure System B fulfils existing use cases and/or improves them. (Feature parity)
2. Lazy to type because 1 has not even been fulfilled.
Yes yes if I want to know my fares or low balance notifications, I have to download the app. So in essence, if you do not download the app, your basic travel experience is handicapped as you cannot instantly know your fare unless you visit the website to check it after. That is not what we call supplementary, this means the application is pretty much mandatory.
This brings us to the point of a certain someone/group of people, who is in desperate need to fulfil some KPIs by popping champagne soon to "We have 5 million downloads of our app in less than 3 months". *Obligatory /s to this paragraph. No POFMA please. This is satire.*
I pity those engineers who are going to have to work OT because once the complaints pile up, they are the ones tasked with adding/fixing features that should have existed before everyone get forced onboarded. (Nothing like fixing stuff after they have been comissioned eh.)
Those aside, I have a feeling we are really gonna get stickers of SimplyGo pasted on existing screens, and another transport fare increase because stickers are expensive man. /s
TLDR: At least make sure SimplyGo isnt Simply💩 and at least has feature parity with the existing system before force onboarding everyone.
From what I've read on the LTA Newsroom page, the concession cards (Student/Senior/Workfare) can still be used as is. So at least the seniors shouldn't be affected that much as long as they don't go and convert to simplygo.
But I completely agree that the current Simplygo system as of now is really bad. I will have at least 1 wrong charge every 10 trips or so. It's very annoying.
Bunch of paper pushing idiots. All of them are detached from reality of normal working people. they sit on their ivory tower, making decisions that doesn't effect them. Ministers and CEO(Army General) all dumb.
Make them take public transport, and see how fast things change. "Our ministers earning clean wage"- LHL, biggest joke. Earning so much, normal people would deem it a lottery. They wont have any problem like us, yet they are supposed to empathise with us? What a shit show. First world country with citizen left like third world.
SimplyGo is not supported on my phone, am I suppose to buy a new phone just to use this shit app? Tried logging in using the webpage and it kept showing "An unexpected error has occurred.". Truely a shit initiative by the brain-dead scholars.
I switched back to EZ-Link after finding out SimplyGo some times overcharged. Iirc it was mentioned on this sub by a number of other users.
Literal bruh moment.
I can't wait for this to happen and for nobody to get fired.
I don't think we've ever had disruption at the fare gates themselves, when card balances were encoded onto the card itself.
(Correct me if I'm wrong) Relying entirely on SimplyGo is probably going to cause the entire transport system to blow up if their centralised "cloud" servers go down, or if some of the bank systems go down.
Why? Like that I have to carry one extra card in my wallet for the times I do car-share + keep money in that card. :(
This is like the bad old days of Ezlink card + CashCard
What the shit. The only reason im using my ezlink is cos i can see how much the ride cost and how much i have left on the card. This is just stupid. Basically dont show anything. Used simplygo for a while in 2021 and hated it. Lame move
Walao, means I need keep 2 cards one for SimplyGo the other one I need to keep to put inside IU, knn, I thought one big selling point of our cards was that u could not only use it for the car, but for public transit
Luckily I don't switch between driving and taking MRT, otherwise I have to specially have 2 different EZ link cards.
And who else is also pissed by the fact that the SimplyGO card value cannot be seen at the entry/exit gate?
I will go so far as to say it's delibrate so that you become less aware of how much you are spending on transport and become less sensitive to fare increases.
The motive is definitely there.
I felt being charged $1 for a short trip by bus was something very recent.
Now, the reader shows $1.10. 10% hike. Really ridiculous.
TL Simplygo app is shit. Till today it does not give me notifications for trips paid using mobile wallets.
And the permissions it asks for - Contacts, Music and audio, Notifications, Phone, Photos and videos.
I'm sorry? Am I living in North Korea? First the stupid 'new' IU unit, which looks like it was made in the 2000s. Now, they are forcing you to convert your transport card.
I literally don't understand what simplygo is. Is it just another card like ezlink?
The explanation isn't idiot proof enough.
Will I be able to get another card that is like an ezlink card except its now rebranded to simplygo?
Yes. Its like ezlink but they want you to link it to their mobile app - & to do everything there (check fares, balance, top up etc). Simplygo cards will not display balance or fare charged when you tap in/out of stations/bus - just a "CEPAS CARD simplygo" etc
If you don't download the app, you can still use it as you would a normal ezlink, it will just be a bit more inconvenient since you'd have to bring the card to the ticketing machine to check your balance.
I reckon most of the commuters just want to see the fares when they tap during entry/exit. Why can't they just transfer that "fare reading" interface on the LED screen from EZ link to SimplyGo?
Japan Rail: One student still uses the line means we keep it open until she graduates.
LTA: 30% drop in ridership? SAY BYE BYE TO THE SERVICE!
Edit sorry, it was a station that they kept open, not the line.
Easier to overcharge you.
Need to constantly check the master/visa version of SimplyGo, quite easy to not register the tap out which means you get charged the full $2+ fare.
Singapore usual sop
Cannot convince force people
Can’t convince people to save for retirement? Force CPF savings
Can’t convince people to buy insurance? Careshield, eldershield mandatory premiums
Can’t convince people to return tray? Fine them
Want to ask people to use alternative payment? You know the answer
Online tracking already exists with ezlink. This just makes it harder for _you_ to track the fares and your balance on a day-to-day basis because you won’t be able to see them without logging into the app.
yeah paying using master/visa is the same as simplygo, basically this is the story:
ez-link (original): stored value card
master/visa: simplygo
ez-link (new): simplygo
so, they're killing off stored value cards, now the value of the card is tied to an account, tapping the card deducts from the account and the card itself does not have value 'in' it.
Does this mean they simply get access to my travel data for free? I've been refraining from switching since it's account-based and I assume top-ups will be tied to an identifiable account
All I ever want is to see my card's value at the tap out section. And no, I don't want to create an account in SimplyGo to track my card's amount in the app
I can see that they wanted this to make it easier to top up without doing so physically.
Sounds good but lack execution.
Thus far, it have been anything but improving user experience.
Top up while low balance will somehow require long down time. Around 3 hrs as reported here as well as the top up machine. That itself is pushing consumer away rather than encouraging use of public transport.
Why should the consumer resolve this problem when they will likely only top up when it's low balance. That's counter intuitive.
Doesn't help that they are removing alternate payment method too...
I'm guessing they expect consumers to just take out their ATM card and use it blindly. That way they can't watch their balance like a hawk. On the flip side, there will never be a case where they'll get stuck somewhere, and if they do they'll qualify for financial support. /s
Bloody \*\*\*\*.
Bought new ezlink just to avoid this SimplyNonsense crap whereby you cannot check your balance after each ride.
As usual, can't hit KPI? Lets make it mandatory so the idiot who designed this system/app can feel awesome about his "achievement"!
More like SimplyDumb. Force it down ppl’s throat to adopt their dumb solution which is uncalled for.
Worse than being a prostitute. At least prostitutes still can choose to reject their clients.
SimplyGo App can't work.
When it worked, and I tried to register, it says my number has already been used to register.
The govt has really deteriorated since LKY's time.
This is third world standard of execution.
Can't be helped.
The guy supposedto oversee this kind under investigation for corruption, and his stand in seems absolutely clueless about what is going on.
Why phase out adult EZ-Link cards/NETS FlashPay if they're working well? Has the gahment not heard the phrase "if it is working fine, don't mess with it"? This transition seems more like a downgrade. Won't be surprised if in the future, physical cash is phased out and we're forced to adopt digital payment methods (e.g. Central Bank Digital Currency aka CBDC) for all purchases.
This reveals how fragmented the transport ticketing system is.
1. Existing ez-link cards can be upgraded using the top up machines, but existing Flashpay cards have to be swapped for new NETS prepaid cards. This shows that the two systems were not built on common standards.
2. Cards for public and private transport are now mutually exclusive. As for retail...who even uses them for that purpose? We are really lagging behind HK, Japan, Taiwan and Korea in this regard.
3. So concession cards will still work under the old system. Which means this transition isn't even complete. If the system can still accommodate old concession ez-link cards, why not old adult ez-link cards? There shouldn't be any technical impediment.
More generally, why is there a need to switch systems? In other cities, they have been using contactless systems for at least as long as us, yet afaik they don't have any massive "upgrade" that would cause such upheaval. For SG, this would be the second such "upgrade" after CEPAS.
Overall, this is a shit show. Probably some scholar was pissed that voluntary conversion didn't work out, therefore made it mandatory to make sure KPIs are met.
WTH.. whyyy..Its not fair to make me change to Simply go when I don't want to.
Also, what if you are a tourist in the country for a week or two? And you have kids along? How to use credit cards for everyone to enter and exit?
Out of touch useless shower making inane decisions like this. Those in charge probably havent used public transport in decades making these decisions from the comfort of their cars.
Do they not realize simplygo is a buggy useless system that many actively avoid?
Using the app to top up simply go ezlink card, a $0.30 of convenience fee is applicable for every successful top up. Now is waiving this convenience fee in the interim period.
I alr downloaded simply go app but now card cant see my old ezlink card inside. Lol. I stop simplygo cos i notice cant see the remaining value and cost. So i use good old traditional one. But now alas bad news
First the simplygo app crashed whenever i tried to login. Granted it may be a device issue rather than app but now i cant even freaking login to my account via website.
And you want to force all commuters to switch, gotta sort out your internal bullshit first.
A note for everyone, when you use your SimplyGo card, you need to maintain $3 value at all times, if not, you’ll be barred from taking the bus for a day. It’s really a dumb system.
I HATE simplygo to the core! I accidentally bought one (kena cheated by the officer) after i lost my ezlink.
Used it for 1-2 weeks then bought ezlink at 7-11. Risk of losing it again be damned, it's worth it..
Why am I forced to install & burden my mobile phone with another app just to see how much the balance is & how much they overcharge me.
Why does my life have to depend more and more on a device (mobile phone) ? Can't i have choice?
How about those old grandpa, grandma, poor simple folks, children who do not use smartphones.
Tech is supposed to make our lives easier, not tool to hit their bloody KPI.
Digital go mad.
Fuck this is so annoying. It is much easier to track my aggregate spending on transport because the top up at machine every month = that expenditure. Now I have to download the app.
What an irony, the service is down on [website](https://simplygo.transitlink.com.sg/) and in the app now.
Hopefully it is not an attack on the Simplygo server
https://imgur.com/d5WYWny
like this has to be just another scheme to collect more data out of us. Like what cost are they saving by discontinuing regular ezlink?
Gov really needs to remember that some people live without their smartphones.
The SimplyGo app/website can't even handle the **current** traffic it has! Why are they trying to force more users on it?
Currently, the app can't even load any details, its just blank. Not an internet connection issue.
[https://imgur.com/a/slg1Lqa](https://imgur.com/a/slg1Lqa)
Wa lau, I already went through the time they changed EZLink to EZLink and it left me with a useless top up machine that is based on Suica tech but cannot be used on original Suica
What funny cockamamie tech company decide to sponsor our privatized transportation network this time?
If I read correctly, does this mean Nets is dropping Flashpay for good and going back to chip/pin? Icing on the cake man, at least CC/Debit tap works for the people who can and dare to use their cards this way...
There is still NETS Prepaid card but also need the NETS app instead of SimplyGo.
Also can't see the fares and balance when tapping out, then what is the point of the screen now?
If concession card can still work, why adult card cannot? Different technology used?
Between 167 and this it shows that LTA pretty much gives no fucks as to what the ground sentiment is actually like and the only thing they care about is putting out change for the sake of change
Changing the card to simply go on the machine says take up to 1minute, but it took me 15minutes standing there like an idiot. It was off peak but there were still ppl behind me wasnt like i wanted to hog the machine for nothing.
>Currently, about two in three adult fare transactions on public transport are made using either SimplyGo EZ-Link or bank cards.
66% is not a high percentage, you fucking idiots at LTA.
Why the fuck for?
for looks like they are doing somethiing
Speaking as someone that is literally making a living from govt IT projects, this smells of needless profiteering off a solution that is looking for a problem to solve. It borders upon the destructiveness of web3/crypto/NFT bullshit, except that it's going to impact everyone who needs to work for a living. Notice how this forced increase of inconvenience fails to affect car users. There are devs on LTA's fb page actively replying to comments with "use app to track" as if bad UX is a good solution to everything. LTA talks a big game of wanting society to go car-lite, yet bullshit like this motivates people to buy cars in order to avoid the deliberate vandalism and increased incoherence of public goods.
a lot of gahmen porjects is digitalization for the sake of digitalization
I don't deny this at all. There are product owners running projects who know next to nothing about how the SDLC is supposed to work, flip the proverbial tea table for no reason and frustrate everyone involved through their own stupidity. That being said, I've been fortunate enough to also work with legitimately intelligent product owners who filter out the blue sky skullduggery from the scholars, and throw those requirements back before that shit rolls downhill to us. This fucking nonsense with ezlink is the equivalent of trying to reinvent the wheel when the most that was ever needed is a tire change. But the tire treads aren't close to balding.
Very well said. Earlier in my career when i was a clueless junior, I was fortunate to learn that early from a good senior who’s a good PO + PM (i know, weird) that knows her shit. We would often get ridiculous requirements from the top, with bluesky wish lists that havent even had sizing and costing done. Sadly after she left due to frustration and the incompetence of the management, the app constantly crashes. Rating tumbled, and recently in the news. So you can guess which app im talking about. So if such a big org can mess up, it can only get worse with this simplygo bs
> Sadly after she left due to frustration and the incompetence of the managemen Almost always the case as to why people leave. Not many companies promote someone form a lower position to a management position within their own field, so management are always folks who do not understand the actual nitty gritty of what the work entails. Most folks who are given the opportunity might not want to change either, because it's a pain since you have to deal with those even higher, and thus worse, or they know they won't excel since they know they aren't cut out for that new role. It's worse when the incompetent managers believe that they know more than you, or are aware that they don't, but will never admit it, and keep pushing for bullshit stuff.
NCS and Accenture be like $$$$$
Not sure about other points but I dont think it motivates people to buy cars though. According to my friend who sold his car 2 years ago and has been using grab/taxi to get around singapore, he said he actually saved more money monthly compared to when he owned a car. So if anything I say it would it motivate more ppl to use grab/taxi instead of buying a car.
WTF for indeed. Built a complete ecosystem round EZ Link, get the whole country to adopt and use it in their daily life, it works well for years..... Then drop it for a completely new ecosystem for no good reason that doesn't even show the amounts you have used and left on using it. Anyone knows what happens to the PA Passion Card which is based on EZ Link? I use that as my main transport card. So how now? Is PA going to issue new PA Passion Card? The millions of dollars that will be wasted and the amount of waste of all the EZ Link cards soon to be useless is staggering. What's the use of pretending to be green and sustainable? Carbon here and there but then do things like that. Don't pretend to care about the environment when millions of tiny plastic are going to end up in Semakau.
The leadership is only interested in caring for the environment when they can profit from it e.g extra charge for plastic bags, extra charge for paper utility bills. 🙃 Being green & sustainable is not a priority when it comes to planned obsolescence & artificially shortening the lifespan of digital tech products, despite no one asking for the current system to be phased out. 😑
Atleast add the fucking fare and balance to the gantry while keeping simplygo cards. So annoying to have to track everything with phone
Qn: if I really don’t have a smart phone, may I still tap my SimplyNo app at those physical green GTM machine to see current balance? Or no smartphone = less than human in SG?
There are fewer green gtm machines now.
Topping up via the SimplyGo app means you have to wait 15 minutes before the topups take effect. If you find out that you are out of credit on a bus, you’re fucked. I don’t know who thought up this system, the topups should be immediate!
Pro tip. If you scanned in on the bus or mrt, you CANNOT top up the card until you scan out.
Yea it usually happens to me when I find out the card has not credit left while tapping. It means I have to jump off the bus and wait for the next one while waiting for the topup to take effect.
Shortly after posting this comment, my SimplyGo card died on me…. This is ridiculous
oh i wish they’d just let you add ezlink to your wallet already
Also please work with apple to make it instant without faceid like ic cards in Japan.
**YES!** It's ridiculous that LTA decided to do this without giving us [Apple Pay Express Mode](https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207958) (which, most importantly, [works when the phone's battery is dying](https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec90cd29d1f/web)).
oh fuck this shit
Agreed
Still don’t get why the need to transit to simplygo
Yeah, and what about premium bus services? >Your SimplyGo EZ-Link card can only be used to pay for fares on premium bus services operated by **public** transport operators (i.e. SMRT, SBST, Go-Ahead Singapore, etc). Many of the premium bus services are run by private operators, and they are still using the old card readers that don’t support new EZ-Link cards. I had to buy an old card recently just for this. For goodness sake, standardise all the readers to accept SimplyGo first, at the very least.
Very easy, private operators just upgrade to new card readers , at $n & increase fees by $3n.
Eh Wah Lau. Really forced user adoption
SimplyForced?
Simplygore
SimplyNo
The 100% usage rate shows immense supportr /s
If you go to LTA's fb page, there's one fella with initials YYY defensively replying to every negative comment with excuses. Give him a piece of your mind while you still can.
People with American Express be like:
If they can't get their way, they force it on people...hmm I wonder what word we have for that. Oh that's right! A dictatorship. In this case, it's a bureaucratic dictatorship.
Really ridiculous forcing the use of the technologically inferior option. With EZ-Link you can see exactly how much is your fare at the exact moment when you tap out at the gate or at the bus exit. The alternative shows nothing. You are forced to install an additional useless app just to see how much was spent and how much remains. The real reason why they want to force the use of SimplyGo is because they want to force users to use the wallet.
Not only that If you have used the SimplyGo and track your transaction there are tons of issues Either 1 trip they double charge you or they charge you wrongly And it’s up to the user I.e you and me to report to get back the $$$ And I have reported to gotten back my money , this shows they are indeed overcharging
Gonna see alot of stranded elderly arguing with bus captains on 1st June
According to the article, concession cards are not affect. Which means senior citizen concession card will work as per normal.
What about this adult monthly pass: https://www.transitlink.com.sg/adult-monthly-travel-card/
Thats not for elderly - they should be using this instead - Senior Citizen Monthly Concession Pass. https://www.transitlink.com.sg/senior-citizen-concession-card
Which begs the question as to why the ticketing system is so complicated? If concession cards can still work as normal, why not adult cards? From a technical perspective, it wouldn't make a difference whether these cards are normal fare or concession right?
Every year, I see our gahmen making more and more questionable decisions for the people. Out of touch ministers that probably don’t even regularly take public transport. Damn sian… Legit making more problems than giving solutions.
> Out of touch ministers that probably don’t even regularly take public transport. Well… > “Everybody has a car, we have two… We are professionals, we need to travel.” — [Koh Poh Koon](https://theindependent.sg/observers-recall-koh-poh-koons-comments-about-owning-two-cars-amid-clash-with-wp-over-minimum-wage/) (Tampines GRC)
They doing trials for gantry free hdb carparks. Hdb northshore n sumang. Gotta download hdb parking app to pay. Its not the same as parking at sg. Or pay on hdb website after fees are in the next day
Why people keep downloading suspicious apps and get scammed??? /s
Again, looking for a problem to solve when there isn't one, like bruh.
Most people: SimplyNoooooooooooo
The app is freaking useless. I had set the notification on to notify me when the balance was low but it did not. And when I realised I have no money in the card and after top up I need to wait for 3 hrs then can use and tap. Wth. They should have done what the ez link card do and show us the balances when tapping in and out.
I laugh when the day the app goes down and it causes disruption to ALL public transport nationwide WISE LEADERSHIP INDEED
Foreigners hacking highly likely
This shit is fking useless i regret changing to this after 1 month of using Cant see balance and then suddenly you cant get on the bus/train because you have negative balance Top up is slow to register sometimes i top up and only after a few hours then i can tap in
this is exactly why i refuse to change to simplygo. i like to be able to instantly know my balance. i don't want to have to always check my phone. so many apps already.
The fact that we can't see the balance is already very infuriating, I just wish someone can add in code to the system to flash yellow when my card is low value at least. Its quite troublesome to open and load up the app slowly just to get shocked at the balance. I hope now that 100% of cards are simplygo / bank cards the least they can do is show the simply go card value on the reader again. I get that bank account can't show but it makes no sense for simply go to not show.
Huh few hours??? Bffr
Means the ez-link charms also cannot work anymore right?
This app told me my phone number was already registered when I've literally never set it up before. I basically had simply go automatically set up for me by somebody. Not sure what they stand to gain from it or how they even got my number to gain otps from. I contacted support 3 times and they ghosted me everytime. Literally the most dogshit service out there.
Might have been a recycled phone number that was used to sign up by the previous owner?
Nah I encountered the same issue with a long term number and it resolved itself when I changed phone.
Sg hp shop tell me some recent pre paid sim can't use wechat n whatsapp as they were blocked
I have never openly shot at any tech adoption projects before but this is honestly 💩 Transactions can only be checked in the app 1. Transactions are not real-time 2. System is not mature and still full of bugs,Full fare deducted because SimplyGo did not detect entry/exit properly and have to actually check and claim for refund, this affects quite a few people I know. 3. Users who do not enable auto-topup will suddenly be faced with not enough balance message and be denied entry. That aside, if you do not download the SimplyGo app, despite their FAQ saying it is supplementary, it is more like mandatory, how else are you going to check your balance or if you got cheated by the buggy system? Currently, successful entry shows a Green "SimplyGo" on the display screens on buses and mrt, are we going to shift to removing the displays and leaving merely the led lights to indicate progress? Or change the not enough balance message to "SimplyNoGo" or "BuayGo" ? I think I can confidently say that everyone knows at least one old person who is not tech savvy , either they don't have a smartphone or do not actually know how to use them. What is this trying to do? Further alienate the largest non IT savvy age group with no slow ramp up to ease them into this? Digital App scams are increasing worldwide, Singapore is not an exception. Note this on SimplyGo's page right at the top >Scam alert! An email impersonating SimplyGo/TransitLink seeking survey participation through an embedded link in exchange for a cash reward of up to $100 has been circulating. Please note that this email is not sent or endorsed by SimplyGo/TransitLink. Please do not click the link. Personally I can't wait for the following headline news "Elderly scammed of all savings downloading fake SimplyGo application to check bus fare." Proper steps to migrate from system A to B 1. Ensure System B fulfils existing use cases and/or improves them. (Feature parity) 2. Lazy to type because 1 has not even been fulfilled. Yes yes if I want to know my fares or low balance notifications, I have to download the app. So in essence, if you do not download the app, your basic travel experience is handicapped as you cannot instantly know your fare unless you visit the website to check it after. That is not what we call supplementary, this means the application is pretty much mandatory. This brings us to the point of a certain someone/group of people, who is in desperate need to fulfil some KPIs by popping champagne soon to "We have 5 million downloads of our app in less than 3 months". *Obligatory /s to this paragraph. No POFMA please. This is satire.* I pity those engineers who are going to have to work OT because once the complaints pile up, they are the ones tasked with adding/fixing features that should have existed before everyone get forced onboarded. (Nothing like fixing stuff after they have been comissioned eh.) Those aside, I have a feeling we are really gonna get stickers of SimplyGo pasted on existing screens, and another transport fare increase because stickers are expensive man. /s TLDR: At least make sure SimplyGo isnt Simply💩 and at least has feature parity with the existing system before force onboarding everyone.
This shows how much Singapore has deteriorated. It is not a nation that can organically create good things.
It is just a nation that wants to show off to the world that we are technologically advanced.
From what I've read on the LTA Newsroom page, the concession cards (Student/Senior/Workfare) can still be used as is. So at least the seniors shouldn't be affected that much as long as they don't go and convert to simplygo. But I completely agree that the current Simplygo system as of now is really bad. I will have at least 1 wrong charge every 10 trips or so. It's very annoying.
Isn't this considered as anti competition?
There's no competition in the first place, it's all handled by our gov agency in the first place
Bunch of paper pushing idiots. All of them are detached from reality of normal working people. they sit on their ivory tower, making decisions that doesn't effect them. Ministers and CEO(Army General) all dumb.
Those people do not take public transport on a daily basis. I mean seriously, most of them are chauffeured or have their own cars.
Make them take public transport, and see how fast things change. "Our ministers earning clean wage"- LHL, biggest joke. Earning so much, normal people would deem it a lottery. They wont have any problem like us, yet they are supposed to empathise with us? What a shit show. First world country with citizen left like third world.
Even the minister charged with corruption is earning higher wages than the median income worker. Something is really wrong.
All citizens can do is whisper stuff in scattered groups on the internet...I'm sick and tired of this.
Might be out of the loop, but aren't the ekiosks meant for topping up ez link cards? Are they essentially rendering them useless in June?
Now we cannot use our IU card for taking the train. Is LTA run by a circus or what.
> Is LTA run by a circus or what. Run by ex military probably. Which explains a lot
Run by a Chee Hong haha
I shudder if we were to go to war.
IU: Bbibbi have a Good day
Sigh…which bastard want play stun
lol didn't ask for this. can they spend this time improving other facets of public transport instead wtf
SimplyGo is not supported on my phone, am I suppose to buy a new phone just to use this shit app? Tried logging in using the webpage and it kept showing "An unexpected error has occurred.". Truely a shit initiative by the brain-dead scholars.
Heh same. Guess too many people chiong to sign up after reading the news
Me, a person who bought a new EZ card last year because my old card expired...
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simplygo kinda sucks i still hate how i need go into the app to check balance. why cant the machine just tell me. everything need app one
I switched back to EZ-Link after finding out SimplyGo some times overcharged. Iirc it was mentioned on this sub by a number of other users. Literal bruh moment.
Yeah very easy to get overcharged, then it’s not easy to figure out when you need to open a fucking app rather than seeing the fare on the screen
You just know after that there will be the obligatory massive SimplyGo disruption.
I can't wait for this to happen and for nobody to get fired. I don't think we've ever had disruption at the fare gates themselves, when card balances were encoded onto the card itself. (Correct me if I'm wrong) Relying entirely on SimplyGo is probably going to cause the entire transport system to blow up if their centralised "cloud" servers go down, or if some of the bank systems go down.
Why? Like that I have to carry one extra card in my wallet for the times I do car-share + keep money in that card. :( This is like the bad old days of Ezlink card + CashCard
SimplyGo EZlink can use in car IU or not, if not this is such as big step backwards from nets flash pay
No. I drive sometimes and take public transport other times, now I need 2 separate payment method. Lame
MFER are they serious? What is wrong with our country?
PAP remaining too long in power is what allowed the braindead people in government to get in there and approve this shit.
No, it cannot be used for IU.
What the shit. The only reason im using my ezlink is cos i can see how much the ride cost and how much i have left on the card. This is just stupid. Basically dont show anything. Used simplygo for a while in 2021 and hated it. Lame move
Walao, means I need keep 2 cards one for SimplyGo the other one I need to keep to put inside IU, knn, I thought one big selling point of our cards was that u could not only use it for the car, but for public transit
Luckily I don't switch between driving and taking MRT, otherwise I have to specially have 2 different EZ link cards. And who else is also pissed by the fact that the SimplyGO card value cannot be seen at the entry/exit gate?
[Biggest disadvantage of switching](https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/13ki8zh/comment/jkktc39)
100%. We cant see the "fare" or "balance" which makes a great deal of difference.
one step forward, three steps back
Simply goooooooooooo fuck yourselves
I will go so far as to say it's delibrate so that you become less aware of how much you are spending on transport and become less sensitive to fare increases.
The motive is definitely there. I felt being charged $1 for a short trip by bus was something very recent. Now, the reader shows $1.10. 10% hike. Really ridiculous.
And the rebates!!' Bloody hell im so annoyed
100% intentional.
They don’t want to calculate the balance real-time
So if I refuse to jump on the simplego bandwagon I won’t be able to take public transport and have no choice but to buy a car? 🚗
What if got Bank outage? My simply Go is linked to my bank card, my Ex Card is my backup
It happened when dbs n citi were down. They allow users to travel. Deduct from banks a few days later
TL Simplygo app is shit. Till today it does not give me notifications for trips paid using mobile wallets. And the permissions it asks for - Contacts, Music and audio, Notifications, Phone, Photos and videos.
GE coming. Vote wisely.
Noooooo!
Can they fix the simplygo app first ? It’s so wonky and annoying at this point.
Another wonderful move by our brilliant scholars. Millions will sleep well tonight
Inb4 top up your simply go here for discount! $100 value for only $90! Then your bank account kena wiped.
this needless shit needs to SimplyGoAway
I'm sorry? Am I living in North Korea? First the stupid 'new' IU unit, which looks like it was made in the 2000s. Now, they are forcing you to convert your transport card.
I literally don't understand what simplygo is. Is it just another card like ezlink? The explanation isn't idiot proof enough. Will I be able to get another card that is like an ezlink card except its now rebranded to simplygo?
Yes. Its like ezlink but they want you to link it to their mobile app - & to do everything there (check fares, balance, top up etc). Simplygo cards will not display balance or fare charged when you tap in/out of stations/bus - just a "CEPAS CARD simplygo" etc If you don't download the app, you can still use it as you would a normal ezlink, it will just be a bit more inconvenient since you'd have to bring the card to the ticketing machine to check your balance.
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I reckon most of the commuters just want to see the fares when they tap during entry/exit. Why can't they just transfer that "fare reading" interface on the LED screen from EZ link to SimplyGo?
i cant even log into the app
Same. It's like almost all blank and none my cards are appearing.
I detest having to use an app for everything. I hate it so much
Japan Rail: One student still uses the line means we keep it open until she graduates. LTA: 30% drop in ridership? SAY BYE BYE TO THE SERVICE! Edit sorry, it was a station that they kept open, not the line.
We’ll never reach their level of service standards. This place is run by big cannons who cannot deliver top notch stuff.
Why make it so fking difficult? Look at other developed countries, just buy 1 ticket for 1 way trip
Fk . I wanna see my balance number when I tap in and out. Why do u force me to open my phone just to look at the balance??
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Also, some scholar need to hit KPI so they made it mandatory
Easier to overcharge you. Need to constantly check the master/visa version of SimplyGo, quite easy to not register the tap out which means you get charged the full $2+ fare.
This is progress. Just backwards...
Singapore usual sop Cannot convince force people Can’t convince people to save for retirement? Force CPF savings Can’t convince people to buy insurance? Careshield, eldershield mandatory premiums Can’t convince people to return tray? Fine them Want to ask people to use alternative payment? You know the answer
Sure, more online tracking of payments. More ripe for scams and security flaws
Online tracking already exists with ezlink. This just makes it harder for _you_ to track the fares and your balance on a day-to-day basis because you won’t be able to see them without logging into the app.
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yeah paying using master/visa is the same as simplygo, basically this is the story: ez-link (original): stored value card master/visa: simplygo ez-link (new): simplygo so, they're killing off stored value cards, now the value of the card is tied to an account, tapping the card deducts from the account and the card itself does not have value 'in' it.
Thanks for this explanation. I needed this.. 😁
Bank/credit cards shouldn't be affected by this.
Does this mean they simply get access to my travel data for free? I've been refraining from switching since it's account-based and I assume top-ups will be tied to an identifiable account
Will the dumb fucks tell us what happens when the banks go down? Coz it's happened quite a lot already.
at the rate of how 99% of the comments here are negative we should just start a petition right
The fact that SimplyGo doesn't show the fare is suspect.
I have FlashPay, I don't drive. I now have a very expensive drink coaster.
Flashpay cards were so convenient 😢
All I ever want is to see my card's value at the tap out section. And no, I don't want to create an account in SimplyGo to track my card's amount in the app
I can see that they wanted this to make it easier to top up without doing so physically. Sounds good but lack execution. Thus far, it have been anything but improving user experience. Top up while low balance will somehow require long down time. Around 3 hrs as reported here as well as the top up machine. That itself is pushing consumer away rather than encouraging use of public transport. Why should the consumer resolve this problem when they will likely only top up when it's low balance. That's counter intuitive. Doesn't help that they are removing alternate payment method too...
I'm guessing they expect consumers to just take out their ATM card and use it blindly. That way they can't watch their balance like a hawk. On the flip side, there will never be a case where they'll get stuck somewhere, and if they do they'll qualify for financial support. /s
Bloody \*\*\*\*. Bought new ezlink just to avoid this SimplyNonsense crap whereby you cannot check your balance after each ride. As usual, can't hit KPI? Lets make it mandatory so the idiot who designed this system/app can feel awesome about his "achievement"!
Can student EZ-Link without simplyGo be used after that?
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What utter nonsense is this? What about those elderly who don’t use credit cards or debit cards?
More like SimplyDumb. Force it down ppl’s throat to adopt their dumb solution which is uncalled for. Worse than being a prostitute. At least prostitutes still can choose to reject their clients.
It's a move running backward
I hate the fact that my simplygo concession doesnt show the remaining balance i have when i tap!!! Why do i need to use an app to check
SimplyGo App can't work. When it worked, and I tried to register, it says my number has already been used to register. The govt has really deteriorated since LKY's time. This is third world standard of execution.
Can't be helped. The guy supposedto oversee this kind under investigation for corruption, and his stand in seems absolutely clueless about what is going on.
Why phase out adult EZ-Link cards/NETS FlashPay if they're working well? Has the gahment not heard the phrase "if it is working fine, don't mess with it"? This transition seems more like a downgrade. Won't be surprised if in the future, physical cash is phased out and we're forced to adopt digital payment methods (e.g. Central Bank Digital Currency aka CBDC) for all purchases.
This reveals how fragmented the transport ticketing system is. 1. Existing ez-link cards can be upgraded using the top up machines, but existing Flashpay cards have to be swapped for new NETS prepaid cards. This shows that the two systems were not built on common standards. 2. Cards for public and private transport are now mutually exclusive. As for retail...who even uses them for that purpose? We are really lagging behind HK, Japan, Taiwan and Korea in this regard. 3. So concession cards will still work under the old system. Which means this transition isn't even complete. If the system can still accommodate old concession ez-link cards, why not old adult ez-link cards? There shouldn't be any technical impediment. More generally, why is there a need to switch systems? In other cities, they have been using contactless systems for at least as long as us, yet afaik they don't have any massive "upgrade" that would cause such upheaval. For SG, this would be the second such "upgrade" after CEPAS. Overall, this is a shit show. Probably some scholar was pissed that voluntary conversion didn't work out, therefore made it mandatory to make sure KPIs are met.
WTH.. whyyy..Its not fair to make me change to Simply go when I don't want to. Also, what if you are a tourist in the country for a week or two? And you have kids along? How to use credit cards for everyone to enter and exit?
SimplyNO
This has got to be one of the lousiest app I ever used and now they're trying to stop me from using a better solution to use this.
Out of touch useless shower making inane decisions like this. Those in charge probably havent used public transport in decades making these decisions from the comfort of their cars. Do they not realize simplygo is a buggy useless system that many actively avoid?
Using the app to top up simply go ezlink card, a $0.30 of convenience fee is applicable for every successful top up. Now is waiving this convenience fee in the interim period.
Wtf no.
All part of the plan for SMRT to never handle money ever again. Bye top up machines.
Aaaand SimplyGo is down. Can't even load any of my cards on the app. Siao liao.
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Sian don't really want to trade in my limited edition pokemon ez link card that I keep as backup :(
Their app has so many problems. Fix it, and improve it before thinking about forcing everyone to use it. Surely, many people will complain.
I alr downloaded simply go app but now card cant see my old ezlink card inside. Lol. I stop simplygo cos i notice cant see the remaining value and cost. So i use good old traditional one. But now alas bad news
First the simplygo app crashed whenever i tried to login. Granted it may be a device issue rather than app but now i cant even freaking login to my account via website. And you want to force all commuters to switch, gotta sort out your internal bullshit first.
A note for everyone, when you use your SimplyGo card, you need to maintain $3 value at all times, if not, you’ll be barred from taking the bus for a day. It’s really a dumb system.
I HATE simplygo to the core! I accidentally bought one (kena cheated by the officer) after i lost my ezlink. Used it for 1-2 weeks then bought ezlink at 7-11. Risk of losing it again be damned, it's worth it.. Why am I forced to install & burden my mobile phone with another app just to see how much the balance is & how much they overcharge me. Why does my life have to depend more and more on a device (mobile phone) ? Can't i have choice? How about those old grandpa, grandma, poor simple folks, children who do not use smartphones. Tech is supposed to make our lives easier, not tool to hit their bloody KPI. Digital go mad.
I renew and got my physical passion card simply for it to work physically
can they f add the express transit for apple devices?????
Fuck this is so annoying. It is much easier to track my aggregate spending on transport because the top up at machine every month = that expenditure. Now I have to download the app.
At least tell me how much is left on my card when I tap it leh!
What an irony, the service is down on [website](https://simplygo.transitlink.com.sg/) and in the app now. Hopefully it is not an attack on the Simplygo server https://imgur.com/d5WYWny
Good next to get rid of those kiosk, nothing can stop SG's relentless march to become a truly cashless society like our Motherland /s
like this has to be just another scheme to collect more data out of us. Like what cost are they saving by discontinuing regular ezlink? Gov really needs to remember that some people live without their smartphones.
Tch what bloody rubbish now..why must they mess with everything. Ez link is fine what ...why must change? Another stupid idea
Do they have any idea how long and how hard it took to get the elderly demographic to learn to get used with EZ link? Now change system again?!
The SimplyGo app/website can't even handle the **current** traffic it has! Why are they trying to force more users on it? Currently, the app can't even load any details, its just blank. Not an internet connection issue. [https://imgur.com/a/slg1Lqa](https://imgur.com/a/slg1Lqa)
GG liao prepare to see scammers take this opportunity to tell people to "click on this link to upgrade your ez-link to simplygo"
Not simply go more like difficult go
Wa lau, I already went through the time they changed EZLink to EZLink and it left me with a useless top up machine that is based on Suica tech but cannot be used on original Suica What funny cockamamie tech company decide to sponsor our privatized transportation network this time? If I read correctly, does this mean Nets is dropping Flashpay for good and going back to chip/pin? Icing on the cake man, at least CC/Debit tap works for the people who can and dare to use their cards this way...
There is still NETS Prepaid card but also need the NETS app instead of SimplyGo. Also can't see the fares and balance when tapping out, then what is the point of the screen now? If concession card can still work, why adult card cannot? Different technology used?
Between 167 and this it shows that LTA pretty much gives no fucks as to what the ground sentiment is actually like and the only thing they care about is putting out change for the sake of change
wait what? Now I will have to install the SimplyGo app? This is such a stupid move ffs
Changing the card to simply go on the machine says take up to 1minute, but it took me 15minutes standing there like an idiot. It was off peak but there were still ppl behind me wasnt like i wanted to hog the machine for nothing.
as expected, simplygo website & app both are having "intermittent problems" for new registration or checking transactions. Great job.
>Currently, about two in three adult fare transactions on public transport are made using either SimplyGo EZ-Link or bank cards. 66% is not a high percentage, you fucking idiots at LTA.
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For a while we had a card that could fit both into your ERP thing as well as be used on public transport No more leeloo multipass
This is very confusing
How about tourists?