A family member of mine recently returned from a trip to Singapore and came home raving about the quality of the public transport system over there.

At the start of the trip, he and his wife loaded $15 onto their version of a public transport payment card. It surprisingly lasted the full one-and-a-half weeks, with multiple train and bus rides each day.

He also mentioned that the trains and facilities were very well kept. 

Meanwhile, over here in Australia, we are charged ridiculously high prices to use public transport -- which we are rewarded with by late and overcrowded, dirty trains and buses.

I am all for student and senior discounts, but the average punter has to pay about triple the price of students and seniors in some cases.

The cost of catching the train to work each day (including paying for parking) is in the same ballpark as driving into the CBD each day, so I can't help but wonder where the incentive is to use the outdated system that is currently in place.

With the amount that we pay to travel, surely there could be more trains running with more care as to their cleanliness. 

The service we get for the amount we pay is nothing short of ludicrous and I can't help but question where our money is really going.