SINGAPORE - Sale of standard tickets - limited use paper tickets - at MRT stations will be progressively phased out between January and March 2022. This comes as most commuters are already using stored value cards or account-based ticketing such as contactless bank cards. Standard tickets were introduced to allow commuters to pay for their ride when the MRT system began operations in 1987, but now fewer than one in 1,000 trips are paid using these tickets, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in August. The LTA said on Friday (Dec 3) that the move will start with the Thomson-East Coast and Downtown lines from Jan 10. This will be followed by the Circle and North East lines on Feb 10, and the North-South and East-West lines on March 10. The LTA has also reduced the minimum top-up amount for stored value cards such as ez-link cards at ticketing machines to $2, down from $10 for adults and $5 for student concession cards. "This will allow commuters who have limited cash on hand to top up, continue their journeys and enjoy the cost savings," said the LTA. The move to phase out standard tickets - purchased for single or return trips - because of low usage was announced earlie...