Two senior citizens from Qingzhou, East China's Shandong Province, show their free bus cards. Photo: IC

Chinese seniors who ride for free on public transit are not to blame for overcrowding of Beijing buses during rush hours. A recent study using big data revealed that harried office workers have no reason to suggest that seniors are making their commute more difficult. 

According to data provided by the company that manages Beijing's public transit cards, seniors with free bus cards don't travel during rush hours more often than at other times. The morning rush hour peaks between 7:30 am and 8:00 am, while seniors more often commute after 9:00 am, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Sunday.

Beijing's senior residents above 60 are offered a special transit card giving them free access to the city's public buses but not the subway system since November 2018. More than 4 million of the cards have been distributed to seniors, according to the report. The same free-ride policy has been implemented in other cities including Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province. 

The big data was released amid longstanding criticism of seniors riding buses in the morning. Many Chinese young people called on the government to cancel free bus rides for seniors so that office workers won't have to struggle to get on overcrowded buses. Some believe that if seniors had to pay during rush hour, they would likely change their travel times.