Free Bus Service by the Elderly in Kunming

Background Information

China has a long history of respecting its elderly. In 1996, the Government of the People’s Republic of China reinforced this core value by issuing the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly. In 2007 the Standing Committee of the 10th People’s Congress of Yunnan Province adopted the Yunnan Provincial Regulations on Protecting the Rights and Interests of the Elderly. These regulations stipulate that the elderly should enjoy free access to the city’s urban public transportation facilities simply by showing their “Certificate for the Elderly”. They further stipulated that the city government should provide corresponding economic compensation to the concerned public transportation companies.

Goals of the Initiative

On July 1, 2007 Kunming started to implement this policy which enables the elderly to take buses free of charge in the city by holding their “Loving Care IC Card” (the “Card”). According to the policy, all elderly people above the age of 60, no matter whether they have Kunming residential living permits (Hukou) or not, could apply for the “Card” by providing an official identification document and supporting evidence that they are living in the city. The card can be obtained at any service network point of the Kunming Municipal Public Transportation Group Company.   

Innovation for the Initiative

The vast majority of these people started working and spent most of their careers when China was a very poor country and had a centrally planned economy. As a result, most of them have modest savings and pension schemes and thus rely on public means of transportation for their mobility needs. The free bus service of Kunming thus provides several hundred thousand elderly people with free mobility without which they would have limited access to the benefits and “rights” of living in the city. In order to further ensure and enhance this “right to the city” by the elderly, the municipal and provincial authorities decided to provide other preferential measures. For example, city parks, tourist attractions, museums and memorials are also all open to the elderly people for free. Given the special climatic conditions of Kunming (where it is spring all year round), the elderly can enjoy the beautiful landscape (mountains, lakes and rivers), meet with friends in public parks and gardens, pick up grandchildren, go shopping, and go for medical visits without being restricted in terms of mobility. This has proven to be a truly liberating experience for many of the elderly who otherwise felt housebound.