Representatives of taxi associations and taxi drivers’ unions nationwide accused the government yesterday of breaking its promise after the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) announced that it would stop subsidies for hybrid vehicles next year.
The representatives said the government launched the subsidy program in 2008 during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration to encourage people to purchase or remodel their vehicles into “gasoline-liquefied petroleum gas [LPG] hybrids.” The government also promised to build 150 LPG stations around the country within five years as an incentive to get drivers to switch to hybrids and set a goal of having 150,000 hybrids on the road in that timeframe, they said.
“However, there are only 41 LPG stations, not even close to 30 percent” of the goal, said Chen Teng (陳燈), chairman of the National Federation of Taxi Associations.
“Most taxi drivers are so poor, they will not be able to survive any longer. The decision to withdraw the subsidies may force them to commit suicide,” Chen Teng said.
Taxi drivers receive a NT$2 per liter of LPG subsidy.
Federation statistics show that 22,000 of the 89,708 yellow cabs in Taiwan are hybrids.
The NT$2 subsidy helps the drivers, said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), who accompanied the protesters to a meeting with EPA officials yesterday.
“Although it was the policy of the previous government, the current government is obliged to maintain it,” Ting said, adding that neighboring countries such as Japan and South Korea have promoted hybrid vehicles for many years.
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