LCQ19: Public Transport Concessions Scheme for Elderly and Persons with Disabilities
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     Following is a question by Dr Hon Lam Tai-fai and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (December 14):

Question:

     The Chief Executive has proposed in the 2011-2012 Policy Address to provide elderly people aged 65 or above and recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) who are aged between 12 and 64 with 100% disability as well as recipients of Disability Allowance (DA) in the same group with a public transport fare concession (the concession scheme), enabling them to travel on the general MTR lines, franchised buses and ferries anytime at a concessionary fare of $2 a trip.  It is expected that about 1.1 million people, including 130 000 persons with disabilities (PWDs), will benefit.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the estimated total expenditure required for implementing the concession scheme, with a table listing the respective estimated amounts of subsidies to be received by various public transport operators (the operators);

(b) given that the authorities have indicated that the concession scheme will only be launched in the latter half of next year, whether the scheme can be launched earlier in the first half of next year; if so, of the specific time and details; if not, the reasons for that;

(c) why the authorities restrict that for people aged between 12 and 64, only CSSA recipients with 100% disability and DA recipients can benefit;

(d) whether it has assessed the increase in the number of beneficiaries and government expenditure in expanding the concession scheme to cover all PWDs, CSSA recipients and other disadvantaged groups;

(e) of the criteria based on which the fare level at $2 a trip was set;

(f) why public light bus is not included in the concession scheme, and whether it will reconsider including public light bus in the scheme;

(g) given that the Government has indicated that it will negotiate with the operators and urge them to continue to provide existing fare concessions to the elderly and PWDs, and not to withdraw the present concessionary measures for passengers because the Government has made additional commitment, how the authorities ensure that the operators will continue to offer the existing fare concessions; what corresponding measures the Government has put in place against non-compliant operators;

(h) apart from introducing the concession scheme, whether the authorities have requested the operators to offer more fare concessions to members of the public so as to pass on the benefits to society; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(i) whether it has considered including the operators' offer of fare concessions to members of the public as a condition when it negotiates with the operators on public transport franchise; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(j) whether the concession scheme has any limit on the implementation period, and when a review will be conducted; and

(k) whether it has assessed the increase in government expenditure on the reduction of the fare of $2 a trip in the concession scheme to $0?

Reply:

President,

     In his Policy Address this year, the Chief Executive proposed a Public Transport Concessions Scheme for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (the Scheme) to enable all the elderly persons 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.

     My reply to Dr Hon Lam Tai-fai's question is as follows:

(a), (g), (j) & (k) The Scheme covers MTR, franchised buses and ferries and involves a large number of routes and services. We are proactively liaising with the MTR Corporation Limited, five franchised bus companies and ferry service operators (the operators) on the detailed modus operandi and arrangements of the Scheme.  We are also exploring with the Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) on the necessary upgrading of the hardware and software of the Octopus system.  We will only be able to make a more accurate assessment of the amount to be reimbursed to individual operators and other administrative costs after the detailed arrangements have been finalised and more data are available.  As mentioned above, the policy objective of the Scheme is to enable elderly persons aged 65 or above and eligible persons with disabilities to travel on the general MTR lines, franchised buses and ferries at $2 a trip and thus we have no plan for providing a full wavier.  We will brief the Legislative Council Panels concerned on the details of the Scheme in the second quarter of next year, including the estimated annual expenditure.

(b) There is a lot of complicated and time-consuming preparatory work for the implementation of the Scheme.  At the same time, we also need the full cooperation of OCL and all the operators concerned.  Apart from liaising with the operators concerned and OCL on the detailed modus operandi and arrangements, the Government needs to negotiate with the operators to continue with their existing fare concessions for the elderly and persons with disabilities, to amend Schedule 5 to the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO), to seek the Legislative Council Finance Committee's funding approval, etc.  It will also take considerable time for the operators concerned and OCL to enhance, fine-tune and test the Octopus system.  Since the Scheme involves a significant amount of public resources and is of a recurrent nature, we must ensure the reliability of the operating mechanism and every detail of the Scheme.  The Labour and Welfare Bureau, Transport and Housing Bureau and Transport Department have been working together and kick-started the preparatory work with a view to launching the Scheme as soon as possible in the second half of next year.

(c) Under the rehabilitation policy, the Government has all along been taking special care of the transport needs of persons with disabilities and has been offering financial assistance through the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and Disability Allowance (DA) Schemes.  A monthly transport supplement has also been provided to recipients under the CSSA Scheme aged between 12 and 64 with 100% disability and recipients of DA in the same age group since July 2008.  In view of their severity of disability, we are of the view that they have greater needs for support and encouragement for participating in more community activities and facilitating their integration into society.  In fact, the relevant Legislative Council Subcommittee formed in 2005 also agreed that these groups of persons with disabilities had greater needs for assistance and encouragement for integration into society.  At present, the non-means-tested financial assistance provided to persons with disabilities by the Government and fare concessions for persons with disabilities offered by MTR also adopt the same eligibility criteria.

(d) Given the diversity of disability, persons with different disability types and severity of impairment may have different service needs at different stages of rehabilitation.  To cope with the varying needs of persons with different disabling conditions for rehabilitation services and support, the definition of disability under the relevant legislation, policies and measures may not necessarily be the same.  For example, the DDO covers disabilities that currently exist, previously existed and even disabilities that may exist in future, as well as minor and temporary disabilities.  Hence, Hepatitis B virus carriers, persons suffering from myopia, and persons recovered from disability will also be regarded as persons with disabilities under the DDO.

     Given such a broad definition of disability, there are practical difficulties in extending the Scheme to include all persons with disabilities as well as estimating the additional number of beneficiaries and expenditure involved.

     Furthermore, the policy objective of the Scheme is to encourage elderly persons aged 65 or above and eligible persons with disabilities to participate in more community activities.  We, therefore, have no plan to extend the coverage of the Scheme to other groups of people.

(e) At present, MTR and all franchised bus companies offers concession fare of $2 for the elderly to take specific routes on designated days.  On this basis, the Government proposes to expand the scope of the elderly fare concessions to other days, and to enable eligible persons with disabilities to benefit from similar fare concessions.

(f) There are many public light bus (PLB) operators.  In general, they are of a small scale and with different modes of operation and financial situations.  Moreover, not all the PLB operators provide concessionary fare to the elderly at the moment.  In view of the above, we consider it difficult to extend the Scheme to PLBs at this stage.  To enable the elderly and eligible persons with disabilities to enjoy the concession as soon as possible, the Administration plans to launch the Scheme initially on the three major types of public transport, viz MTR, franchised buses and ferries.  The need to extend the scope of the Scheme is subject to review upon its full implementation for a period of time.

(h) The Government has all along been encouraging public transport operators to offer fare concessions as far as possible to reduce the transport expenses of the public, taking into consideration various factors, including the overall economic environment of the society, the market conditions, their individual operating situations and passenger demand.  Major public transport operators have already been providing passengers with various types of fare concessions, including concessionary fares for the elderly, persons with disabilities, children and students; interchange discount, Fare Saver concessions, monthly passes, etc.

     Under the Scheme, the Government proposed to request public transport operators concerned to continue with their existing concessions for the elderly and persons with disabilities.  The Government would periodically reimburse the operators the revenue foregone arising from the provision of the $2 fare concession to the elderly and eligible persons with disabilities.

(i) It is the Government's public transport policy to ensure that efficient and proper public transport services are provided by public transport operators for the public, and that fares of major public transport services are set at reasonable levels through regulation according to the established effective mechanism.  

     If the Government requires public transport operators to provide fare concessions to specific passenger groups, the associated financial impact on the operators will eventually be reflected in the fares and shared by all passengers.

     The Government will, through various channels including negotiation on franchises, request the public transport operators to offer fare concessions to reduce the transport expenses of the public, having regard to their individual operating situations.

Ends/Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:48

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