The non-means-tested Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme will cover four more transportation services.
Speaking before today's Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the scheme will also cover red minibuses, shuttle buses, staff buses and short-distance kaito ferry services.
The initiative originally only covered fares for the MTR, franchised buses, green minibuses, ferries and trams.
Mrs Lam said the Government decided to expand the plan following feedback from the community and the transport sector.
"As I have emphasised time and again, my Government is characterised by really being very attentive to the needs of the people and we adopt a listening mode to the things that we are doing, so I find it a reasonable proposition to expand the scheme to include four other forms of public transport modes, so that more people could benefit and more operators could participate in the scheme."
She estimated 2.2 million people will benefit from the scheme and public expenditure will be about $2.3 billion.
Operators must install Octopus card readers and submit operational details on a regular basis as prerequisites for participating in the arrangement.
Mrs Lam said the requirements are straightforward and she does not think operators will have difficulty complying with them.
The Transport & Housing Bureau has submitted the revised plan to the Legislative Council and Mrs Lam hopes lawmakers can approve the scheme as soon as possible.
