Hong Kong’s HK$2 JoyYou transport discount might need a tweak – but it has worthwhile benefits
Hong Kong Free Press
Who knew that Hong Kong grows premium coffee beans?
A hike last year up to Lai Chi Wo, a historic Hakka village in the northeastern New Territories, gave me the opportunity to try some. It’s not cheap at HK$78 a cup, and is best served with a sticky rice dumpling with wood-roasted peanut and sesame (HK$8).
I must thank my JoyYou card. Since obtaining one at 60, I have seen much more of Hong Kong in the past three years than I managed in the previous decade.
Cheap access to the MTR, buses, ferries and minibuses has encouraged me to seek out not just well-trodden destinations such as Cheung Chau, Tai O and Sai Kung, but more obscure parts of the territory, like the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textiles in Tsuen Wan and the mining museum in Ma On Shan.
At 63, I am an endangered species: in the twilight of my working life but not old enough to secure much in the way of benefits for the aged.
See also: Adjust HK$2 elderly transport subsidy scheme for those under 65, suggests HK gov’t adviser
While the Liberal Party has recommended an end to the transit discount for those aged 60-64, I can see a lot of benefits in retaining JoyYou in some form for residents who are 60 and older.
For one, it encourages older residents – I think of the group as advanced middle age – out and about, an idea that should be embraced early in preparation for keeping active in genuine old age.
Recent research from Canada to Colombia has shown the benefits of transit subsidies.
A Bogota study, published in Transport Policy journal in 2022, noted that a subsidy “significantly and substantially increases the total number of monthly public transport trips.”
A Vancouver study, published in the Journal of Urban Mobility in 2021, noted that “the larger the transit subsidy offered, the more employees become transit riders and the more transit only commuting increased.”
To be sure, neither study suggested universal or permanent subsidies. And Hong Kong’s public purse might benefit from tweaking the JoyYou system, perhaps by restricting peak hour and weekend travel, or even raising the HK$2 fee.
Even then, the scheme would offer revenue at slower times of the day. Older adults often don’t have to – or want to – negotiate peak-hour and weekend crowds. Also, for many holders, the JoyYou isn’t just a HK$2 ride out and back.
The incentive is lasting, encouraging multiple rides on different transport modes. And the satisfaction of spending HK$2 instead of HK$55 on a Discovery Bay ferry means discretionary spending goes elsewhere in the economy.
There’s also a big economic benefit to underserved areas, and not just from selling HK$78 Hakka coffee. Parts of Hong Kong, such as Stanley and Lantau Island, have been devastated financially by the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath. A slew of restaurants has shut down, while some of those that survived are contemplating closing.
JoyYou needs to be revisited in the context of a wider economic benefit.
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