LCQ5: Public transport concessions scheme for the elderly and persons with disabilities

LCQ5: Public transport concessions scheme for the elderly and persons with disabilities
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     Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (February 15): 


Question :


     The tram, which is one of the mass transit carriers with the longest history in Hong Kong, has been providing service for people on Hong Kong Island for over 100 years and is frequently patronised by the elderly and persons with disabilities (PWDs). According to the statistical information from Hong Kong Tramways, Limited (HKT), the tram has a daily passenger volume of about 230 000 passenger trips, and it has been learnt that among this daily passenger volume, 15% are elderly people aged 65 and above, which amount to almost 35 000 passenger trips per day and about 12.7 million passenger trips per year in aggregation. However, in the public transport fare concessions scheme (fare concessions scheme) to be launched by the Government for the elderly and eligible PWDs in the middle of this year, the tram, which is frequently patronised by the elderly, is not included. In his reply to a Member's question in the Question and Answer Session of this Council on October 13 last year, the Chief Executive (CE) said that discussions with HKT would be required before considering whether free tram rides would be offered to the elderly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:


(a) given that HKT offers a concessionary fare of $1 per trip for the elderly at present, whether the Government has actively considered including the tram in the fare concessions scheme by reimbursing HKT the $1 concessionary fare according to the number of passenger trips actually taken by the elderly and PWDs, and introducing this fare concession in tandem with the fare concessions of the MTR and franchised buses, etc; if it has not, of the reasons for that;


(b) whether the Government has discussed with HKT to include the tram in the fare concessions scheme; if it has, of the result and the timetable; and 


(c) since CE announced the launch of the fare concessions scheme in the 2011-2012 Policy Address, whether other public transport operators (operators), apart from those of MTR, franchised buses and ferries, have indicated interest to the Government in participating in the scheme; if so, which operators have indicated such interest and how the Government responded to them; if not, whether the authorities will consider actively inviting various operators to participate in the scheme, so that the scheme may cover more modes of transport when it is launched this year, thereby facilitating the elderly and PWDs in commuting?


Reply :


President,


     My reply to the Hon Wong Kwok-hing's question is as follows:


(a) and (b) In his Policy Address last year, the Chief Executive proposed a public transport concessions scheme for the elderly and persons with disabilities (the Scheme) to enable all elderly people aged 65 or above and eligible persons with disabilities to travel on the general Mass Transit Railway (MTR) lines, franchised buses and ferries anytime at a concessionary fare of $2 a trip. The Scheme aims to encourage the elderly and eligible persons with disabilities to participate in more community activities, thereby enriching social capital and developing a spirit of care and inclusiveness.


     The basic principle of the Scheme is that on the premise of maintaining existing fare concessions by the public transport operators concerned, the Government will provide additional resources for offering a concessionary fare of $2 per trip. At present, the elderly concessionary fare of tram is $1, which is lower than the $2 fare proposed by the Government under the Scheme. Therefore, the Administration plans to launch the Scheme initially on the three major modes of public transport, viz MTR, franchised buses and ferries (which account for about 70% of our average daily public transport patronage). After the full implementation of the Scheme for a period of time, we will review the feasibility of extending its scope. 


     The Administration has explained to the Hong Kong Tramways Limited (HKT) the policy objective and basic principle of the Scheme. 


(c) Apart from HKT, some public light bus (PLB) groups have requested that PLBs be covered under the Scheme. As pointed out in my reply to a Legislative Council's written question on December 14, 2011, there are currently many PLB operators and they are generally of a small scale and with different modes of operation and financial positions. Moreover, not all PLB operators provide concessionary fare to the elderly and persons with disabilities. To enable the elderly and eligible persons with disabilities to enjoy the concessionary fare as soon as possible, our priority is to launch the Scheme first on the three major modes of public transport, viz MTR, franchised buses and ferries. Following the full implementation of the Scheme for a period of time, we will review the feasibility of extending its scope.


     We have explained to the PLB groups concerned the policy objective and basic principle of the Scheme.
Ends/Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:56