Priority seat

Priority seats can be found on various public transportation, including the mass transit railways, buses, minibuses, and trams.

[2] Providing unimpeded, effortless access and ideal living environment to all people is the final goal.

Over the past centuries, the idea of priority seats spread to Asian countries such as Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

These three are the most significant examples, owing to their cultural emphasis on politeness that teaches the younger generation to offer seats to the elderly.

According to the Press Release[5] of The Kowloon Motor Bus in 2011, priority seats are designed to provide people with special need a safe and enjoyable journey.

Such passengers, including the elderly and people with mobility obstacles, may face special inconvenience and difficulties during travelling.

It is considered polite to give up seats to the elderly, though many young people do not expressly follow this custom.

Seoul Metropolitan Government expects that the change could allow passengers to yield their seats to pregnant women more easily.

Some banks, airports, or hospital elevators will also mark the icons that are given priority to the elderly and the weak women and children, and have signs to that effect.

[12] In the state of New York the transit authority is legally required to post signs reminding people to get up for elderly, pregnant, and disabled passengers.

It is common to see empty priority seats on a full train in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan.

[27][28] In Hong Kong, Michael Tien suggests mandating the offer of seats to people in need by law just like in some cities in the United States, Canada and Australia.

However, the HKSAR government prefers to promote such an act by advocating a culture of courtesy rather than through legal means.