OCL and HKSR Announce Extension of
“Octopus Rehabilitation Transportation Subsidy Scheme”
Providing Accessible Point-to-point Transportation to Wheelchair-bound CSSA Scheme Beneficiaries
(Hong Kong, 11 May 2017) Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) and The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation (HKSR) jointly announced the extension of “Octopus Rehabilitation Transportation Subsidy Scheme” (ORTSS), which will run from 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2018. ORTSS aims at providing accessible point-to-point transportation to qualified wheelchair users who are beneficiaries of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme.
ORTSS made its debut on 1 April 2014 for a three-year term. As of 30 April 2017, it provided over 22,600 accessible point-to-point trips to over 23,000 low-income wheelchair users.
In view of wheelchair users’ substantial demand for accessible transportation service, and the increasing number of wheelchair users due to ageing population, the organisers of ORTSS have decided to extend ORTSS after the first three-year term, so that more users can be benefited. It is expected that by the end of 2018, ORTSS will provide over 34,600 passenger trips of comfortable and convenient accessible transportation service to qualified users, facilitating them in attending medical appointments, participating in leisure activities, enjoying an enriched social life and improving physical and mental health.
Mr Sunny Cheung, Chief Executive Officer of OCL said, “2017 is the 20th anniversary of OCL. Since its launch in 1997, Octopus has been extensively accepted in public transport, retail and access control systems. In recent years, we further extended Octopus’ application to online and mobile payment fields, making people’s everyday life even easier, and ORTSS echoes well with this brand promise of OCL. We are delighted to continue to sponsor this scheme to enable wheelchair users to enjoy an easier life through accessible point-to-point transportation service.”
ORTSS also effectively enables users to better integrate with the community. Dr Pamela Leung, Chief Executive Officer of HKSR quoted the findings from a HKSR service user survey that 99% of respondents commented ORTSS was “able to meet their transportation needs”, while 97% were more “willing to leave home after receiving the assistance”.
An example is Mr Hui, a wheelchair user, who can now enjoy more his social life via ORTSS. Although immobile after traffic accident, Mr Hui can meet friends again and take up drama and radio drama acting in leisure times after signing up for ORTSS. He can also take care of his recently sick and hospitalised parents with the point-to-point transportation service provided by ORTSS. “I am very gratified because with ORTSS, I can change from a patient being taken care of to becoming a care-giver and expressing my filial piety,” said Mr Hui.
According to the service user survey, 30% of the respondents used the transportation service to participate in social activities and establish interpersonal network, and many touching stories are involved. As Mother’s Day is on the coming Sunday, the organisers held the “Ode to Mothers” Mothers’ Day writing competition, letting ORTSS members express their love to their mothers. A winner of the writing competition said she and her mother were both wheelchair users, and they were able to travel together using the ORTSS service, which was otherwise impossible with ordinary public transport.
All winners of the writing competition will be awarded a point-to-point return trip offered by ORTSS, so that they can travel with their families and show their love to their mothers on 14 May, Mother’s Day.
Furthermore, to encourage more qualified wheelchairs to sign up for the service, ORTSS will offer free accessible point-to-point transportation to new members. For more details, please call ORTSS’ service hotline at 8106 8098.
