Welfare chief explains changes to fare concession scheme

已複製連結

Starting next Friday, the HK$2 fare concession scheme will be changed to a "HK$2 or 80% discount" scheme. 

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said that a massive publicity campaign will be launched, including the development of fare guides for each district under the "HK$2 or 80% discount" scheme.

Sun said: “ Starting next Friday, the fare for elderly people and eligible persons with disabilities will remain at HK$2 for fares under HK$10. For fares exceeding HK$10, an 80% discount will be applied.”

To help the elderly adapt to the new arrangement and identify routes with the HK$2 or 80% discount, Sun said the government will conduct a massive publicity campaign, including developing fare guides for each district, which will be distributed to the elderly in the coming days.

Sun said: "There are many options for going to the same location. Some options can still be reached for just two dollars.

We have invited legislators and community care teams to help us use that model to adapt to the community and create community-based strategies.

From April 3rd, for three consecutive weeks, there will be service ambassadors at 75 locations.

Many of them live in different parts of the community, and we have always considered the elderly. Therefore, we mobilized community resources to notify them.”

On the first day of implementing the "HK$2 or 80% discount" policy, the Transport Department's Emergency Coordination Centre will be activated to monitor the situation that day.

Sun said: “We can react immediately to any new changes. If anything is slightly inappropriate, or if there's any situation, we can respond. Furthermore, it helps in monitoring the overall operation of Hong Kong on the same day. Therefore, we have prepared everything we can think of, every detail we can handle, and everything we can prepare.”

Sun said that in the past year, a lot of system reconfiguration, testing, and review have been completed, including all 17,000 Octopus card machines in Hong Kong.