Registered Taipei residents might be able to use their Senior Citizen Cards to take free rides on trains operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
A timetable for the plan has not yet been decided upon, as the city government is still holding discussions on the matter with the TRA, Ko said as he presented a report on the city’s increasing aged population at a Taipei City Council hearing.
The card, which can be used by registered residents aged 65 and older who are either citizens or permanent residents of Taiwan, contains 480 points that are topped up every month by the Taipei City Government. One point is equivalent to NT$1.
Photo: CNA
The points can be used to take buses, the MRT, taxis and YouBikes, and at any of the city’s 12 district sports centers.
The number of registered citizens and permanent residents in Taipei aged 65 and older totaled 504,028 as of February this year, which accounts for more than 20 percent of the city’s population, Ko said.
As the city’s population and proportion of older people is expected to continue rising, more people would use Senior Citizen Cards for transportation, which would greatly increase the city’s expenditure, Ko said.
He projected that by 2031, the city’s allocated budget for the Senior Citizen Cards would increase by as much as NT$419.22 million (US$14.27 million).
He did not specify the current budget.
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