Measures aim to ease digital woes of seniors on public transportation

Chinese authorities have beefed up concrete measures to bridge the digital divide in the public transportation sector as part of a broader effort to ease digitalization's impact on the elderly, according to a circular issued on Tuesday.

The move came as railway and civil aviation authorities brace for the annual travel peak that straddles Spring Festival, which will fall on Feb 12.

Jointly released by the Ministry of Transport, National Health Commission and five other central government agencies, the circular asked less risky regions to demand "health codes"－the digital pass assessing people's COVID-19 infection risks based on their travel histories－only at train stations, airports and other transportation hubs.

That means people in "low-risk "regions no longer need to show their code to enter residential community compounds, commercial complexes and other public spaces under "general circumstances", the circular said.

However, if the code is considered crucial to controlling the epidemic in some places, authorities there shall arrange workers or allow relatives to help older people sort out the technological difficulties involved, it said.

The circular also encouraged local authorities to create "code-free" channels at transportation hubs and highway service stations, where older people who do not own smartphones or are struggling to make sense of their handsets can sign letters of commitment instead.

Health codes have been designated the only proof of being healthy or free from novel coronavirus infection in many places. But using them requires basic knowhow about using apps on mobile phones, and how to upload and input key personal information and images. Some elderly people have found them difficult to use.

A video clip widely shared online in late August showed a driver in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, refusing to start a bus full of passengers after a gray-haired man could not show his health code because he didn't own any electronic devices.

The driver called the police after the senior citizen refused to get off the bus despite being told about the no-code-no-ride policy. He was eventually driven to his destination by police.

The incident was among the first to cast a spotlight on the digitalization drive that has made it more difficult for some elderly people to book tickets, hail cabs and pass epidemic control checkpoints at transportation hubs.

The pace at which new technologies are being implemented has increased this year in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.

To address such woes, the circular asked transportation authorities to preserve human services, open designated service counters for seniors, and not to discriminate against people using cash to buy tickets.

It also encouraged car-hailing apps to simplify processes for hailing car services online.

The measures follow a landmark guideline released by the State Council, China's Cabinet, last month. It asked authorities to tackle the most pressing issues that digitalization has created for seniors by the end of this year, and build a long-term mechanism to mitigate any such impact by the end of 2022.