The city of Seoul is holding a public hearing to discuss a plan to expand the free ophthalmology ride benefit, which raises the free subway age for seniors to 70, to buses.
The city of Seoul announced on the 22nd that it had received an official document titled ‘Proposal for a public hearing on public transportation policy for the elderly’ from the Seoul Metropolitan Government Association of the Korean Senior Citizens Association.
As requested by the Senior Citizens' Association, the city plans to jointly hold a related public hearing to hear the opinions of various citizens.
Detailed schedule and location will be announced later on the Seoul Metropolitan Government website (seoul.go.kr).
Prior to this, the city said that on the 19th, it held a meeting between Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and the chairman of the Seoul Federation of Korean Senior Citizens' Associations to discuss transportation welfare policies for the elderly.
In this official document, the Senior Citizens' Association said, "We welcome the proposal to exempt bus fares (less than 15 times a month) for seniors over 70 years old, and request that it be implemented as soon as possible."
He continued, “Considering financial capacity and sustainability, we propose a plan to raise the age for free subway transportation. In Korea, most seniors aged 65 to 70 are active in economic activities and social participation, and in Japan, free transport is applied from the age of 70 to 75, so I agree with the realization of the age for free transport.”
At the same time, he said, "Formation of consensus must be a priority," and urged, "We plan to hold a public hearing to quickly develop a social consensus, so please cooperate actively."
The city of Seoul is currently pursuing a plan to provide bus fare support up to 15 times a month for seniors aged 70 or older.
At the Seoul City Council, an ordinance containing related content has passed the city council's transportation committee and is about to be voted on at the plenary session.
Regarding this policy, the city explained that even though older people are more likely to use buses, a short-distance means of transportation, for daily life such as visiting hospitals or shopping for groceries, transportation welfare has been provided mainly through subways.
He also added that although the current Elderly Welfare Act allows seniors to use the subway for free, it was difficult to enjoy the benefits if the subway station was far from their residence.
In addition, the city plans to reduce the urban rail transportation deficit by raising the age limit for free service on the urban railway from 65 to 70, and secure policy sustainability by promoting a bus fare support project with the saved financial resources.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 2023 survey on the elderly, the subjective perception of 'elderly' was 71.6 years old, exceeding 70 years old, and the economic activity participation rate of people over 65 years old also increased from 29.5% in 2000 to 40.7% in 2025.
The city said that although it has been about 40 years since the free age for urban rail service was determined as '65 years or older', discussions on raising the age have been lukewarm.
At the same time, he announced that he will redefine the standards for supporting domestic senior transportation policies through an opinion-gathering process.
Meanwhile, it is also noteworthy that this discussion is taking place while Mayor Oh has just reached the free-riding age. Mayor Oh, born in January 1961 (age 65), became eligible for free riding starting this year.
Attention is being paid to whether Seoul City will be able to reach a social consensus on the standards for free riding in public transportation through this public hearing.
Mayor Oh said, "I hope that the upcoming public hearing will gain sympathy from the elderly and future generations and become a starting point for discussing the direction of sustainable transportation policy." He added, "Seoul City will prepare a transportation policy for the lives of the elderly based on sufficient opinion collection and social consensus."
