Since my last post, the government has announced changes to the Joy You scheme (so I was wrong):

1. Maximum of 240 journeys per person per month at the subsidised rate.  
2. Users will be charged 20% of the fare if it's over HK$10.  

The government is calling this the HK$2 flat rate cum 80 percent discount which is of course rather amusing to native English speakers (I really thought they knew that the word "cum" was problematic and had stopped using it, but there you go).

Why not just call it 2 /20 (or 2 / 20 / 240) in English and $2 / 8折 in Cantonese?  

There was a comment by someone on Facebook complaining that the 240 trips limit was unfair on people who needed to take multiple forms of transport (e.g. Ferry, Minibus, MTR and Bus) to complete their journey.  Well, yes, maybe, but I suspect that in most cases you could find a cheaper (albeit slower) way if you wanted to, and HKFP reports that this will only affect 360 people!

Overall, this seems quite a modest change that isn't going to save very much money.  The next thing to do is actually implement the change - which seems like it ought to be straightforward but local media think it might not happen until September 2026.

This HK Standard report also says that the government is studying a segmented fare system for buses:

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed that the Transport Department is in discussions with bus companies and has identified over 100 bus routes in Hong Kong that could implement a segmented fare system, with further research underway. 

in Hong Kong, buses are operated by for-profit companies (and KMB/LWB and Citybus) and fares are generally higher than on the MTR.  Presumably if they do introduce sectional fares they would have to increase fares to make up for the lost income.

In London, buses are heavily subsidized by TfL (which is under local government control) with a flat fare of £1.75 (roughly HK$17), compared with £2.90 peak for the Underground / Overground in Zone 1/2 (£2.10 for journeys outside Zone 1).  Outside London, bus fares can be eye-wateringly expensive, though there is currently a price cap of £3 (on some routes) which is covered by a government subsidy.  A few cities are bringing buses under local authority control, most notably Manchester where the flat fare is now £2 (as in London, this actually allows multiple journeys within 60 minutes).

Oh, sorry, this is supposed to be about buses in Hong Kong, not the UK.  

The biggest problem remains that for passengers aged 60-64 (even after these changes), the government is paying 80% of the standard fare.  And most of those people will still be working.  At 65 the government is paying 30%, which seems more reasonable.  But it would be brave to take that benefit away from 60-64 years old.