Revised HK$2 public transport scheme for elderly to begin on April 3

2026-03-23 - 23:32

A revised version of the HK$2 scheme, which will require the elderly to pay higher fares for some public transport routes, will take effect on April 3, the government has announced. An elderly woman in Hong Kong gets on a minibus. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Starting that day, the elderly will pay a flat fee of HK$2 for trips with an adult fare of HK$10 or below. For trips that cost over HK$10, they will pay 20 per cent of the adult fare. Implemented in phases in 2012, the scheme currently allows beneficiaries, which include those aged 60 and above, as well as eligible people with disabilities, to pay HK$2 for most public modes of transport, including buses, the MTR and ferries to outlying islands using Octopus cards registered with their name. The scheme aims to encourage these groups of people to participate more in the community. But finance chief Paul Chan announced during the budget address last year that the government would scale back the subsidy scheme amid a deficit. In the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year, the scheme cost the government an annual expenditure of around HK$ billion. Authorities have also raised concerns about ineligible people enjoying discounted HK$2 fares by using an Octopus card that does not belong to them, as well as abuse of the scheme involving users taking long-haul bus routes for short journeys. Buses outside department store Sogo in Causeway Bay. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The practice refers to commuters taking long-distance routes but riding only a few stops, causing the government to pay expensive fares to bus operators even though only short journeys are made. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said the revised scheme would help tackle this problem. He said in the past, the elderly “may not put in much thought” and take cross-harbour buses if it allows them to reach their destination. Now, he added, the elderly will “do the maths... and leave the long-haul [buses] for people who need to commute to work and school.” He added that the cap of 240 trips a month for eligible journeys, which was announced last year, will not kick in until 2027. The revised scheme will allow the government to save around HK$550 million annually, Sun added.