Checking bus schedules to plan ultra-long HK$2 trips when I hit 60…
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You’re nearer 70 surely.
I am going through unexpected Hemlock withdrawal.
Almost free air-con !
MTR is HKD1.9 anywhere, after the 5% discount, but you can try the No. 9 bus from Shau Kei Wan to Shek O for HKD2.00 or from Sai Kung to Tung Chung for the same price; or else Shau Kei Wan to Kennedy Town by tram for HKD1.20. Young mask-wearing people offer their seats to you, even if you feel as fit as a fiddle.
Some ideas at https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/ShowTopic-g294217-i1496-k5866442-Bus_maps_for_city_bus_routes_and_other_city_bus_questions-Hong_Kong.html.
Being a person of a certain age, and therefore already qualified, may I recommend the E41 express bus from Tung Chung to Tai O, which, apart from pausing at the Lantau Link, offers $2 worth of 45 mins of express non-stopper. Add in the “priority seating”, which gives one the right to throw a spotty teenager out, (i.e. effectively a guaranteed seat)… it doesn’t get much better than this…
When will they start this scheme? Asking for a friend who is approaching 60 and who may save something like 4k per annum. My friend can buy a lot of beer for 4K.
When does this begin?
Another great deal is the ferry to Disco Bay – just $2 for us senior citizens to go there from HK Island, instead of the usual $46 – and, even better, just another $2 to get out of the place back to the Island.
What is overlooked is that the $2 fare makes people lazy. Thrifty HKers balk at paying $7 or so for short trips so will walk a few stops. However when the trip costs only $2 its a different matter.
Also if you are paying full fare you wait for the cheaper ride but if government is picking up the difference then what the heck, jump on a via Nathan Road route like 970, Fare $10.60, to go one or a few stops.
But do not hold your breathe for Transport Dept to review the fare structure to address this issue and cut costs. It is high time that a system be put in place to address the high fares for short hops.
Sadly, free subway rides in Shenzhen will still begin only at 65.
@Des Espoir – I think you mean Tai Po. There is a particularly spectacular bit of scenery along that route – half way through the Shing Mun Tunnels, the road emerges from one section of tunnel to cross a deep gorge by a bridge above Lower Shing Mun Reservoir before re-entering the tunnel. Best seen in the rainy season when water cascades down the sides of the ravine. And sit upstairs.
Forget buses.
The MTR is much more fun for geriatrics:
I delight on every one of my rare trips to The Smoke in:
treading on and dislodging the shoes of people cutting in front of me
shoulder charging those who try to block me exiting the carriage
-ditto those walking on the wrong side of passageways
-ditto those glued to their mobile phones
sitting on the laps of said spotty faced teenagers beating me to a seat