A Quick Rant – why is public transport for NSFs so expensive?
Full disclaimer – I am in a stay-out unit so this might not apply to all but I’m pretty sure many NSFs have the same concern.
I am currently in a stay-out unit which is about 1h45min from my house (westie being posted to the east side). It costs me about $4 daily to get to and from my camp and when you multiply that by 5 that is $20 a week.
It costs me $80 a month just to get to and from work which is roughly 13% of my monthly allowance of $630.
I know that does not sound like much but when you are trying to scrimp and save every cent you earn with such a low allowance, it would add up over time.
Of course, some might say “Isn’t it more worth to buy a monthly pass?” Well, the monthly pass (for both bus and train) is $90.50, which costs more than what I typically spend in a month.
Yes, I do go out on weekends but I have to do duty at least twice a month on weekends and I would most likely be too shag to go out so at most I would spend maybe $4-$6 total on the weekends I’m out. This still works out to be lesser than the cost of the pass. Paying adult fare when on such a low allowance really sucks.
I have written to my MP suggesting that NSFs should enjoy lower transport fares because of our relatively low allowance but have yet to get a reply from him so I guess that avenue of expressing my concern is gone.
Hopefully more NSFs would lobby for lower transport fares for themselves as we are already giving 2 years of our lives to the government and basically giving them low-cost manpower.
(P.S. On some months I spend more on transport than when going out with friends/eating out because of the 6 day work week I have LOL)