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Better transport uses

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-07 17:38

There is hardly any reason to question the welfare nature and good intention behind the policy of providing senior residents above the age of 65 or 70 with free public transport, which has been adopted in many cities.

But the fact that the use of public transport by many aged residents during rush hours has apparently added to the already serious crowding in buses or subways points to the inadequacies of thinking for the overall merit of this policy.

A call by the public transit association in the city of Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province, to persuade senior residents to try not to use public transport at rush hour has reflected the embarrassing situation in many cities.

To be honest, taking public transport is risky for senior citizens, who are not as strong as their young counterparts in squeezing their way up and off buses or subways. Statistics suggest that the public transporation group in Wuhan has paid 4 million yuan in compensations to senior residents for their injuries inflicted by travels on public transport during rush hours since the policy was adopted a year ago.

In comparison, Shanghai adopted the same policy for senior citizens above the age of 70 last year, but with the condition attached that the free ride is not for rush hours.

A comparison of figures about rides by senior citizens in rush hours before and after the free ride policy indicates that free ride is definitely an incentive for a rapid increase of senior passengers in public transport during rush hours.

The message is that most of the senior passengers do not necessarily have to come out during rush hours.

The number of senior residents is more than 1 million in Wuhan and more than 1.5 million in Shanghai. Even if a small proportion of them joins the working youth in squeezing their ways up and off buses or subways, the pressure on the already stressed public transport system is tremendous.

Of course, it is not only impossible but also inhuman to revoke the free ride policy.

With the number of the country's senior citizens above the age of 60 rapidly increasing and their total number expected to reach 400 million nationwide by the year 2050, contradictions of a similar kind will become increasingly severe.

It may be high time that senior citizens were persuaded to enjoy their life but not to grab the limited public resources, such as public transport because the working people are more in need of them.