The number of taxis in Taiwan that are equipped to carry disabled passengers has doubled since 2014, but it is still insufficient to meet a rising demand caused by an increase in the aging population, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
In 2014, the ministry began subsidizing taxi operators so they could purchase vehicles to offer a “barrier-free” service to disabled passengers. Since then, the number of taxis that are able to carry disabled passengers has grown from 196 in 2014 to 417.
The ministry has set a goal of raising the number to 500 by the end of this year.
Department of Railways and Highways Director-General Lin Chi-kuo (林繼國) said that the ministry is considering amending the regulations governing the appropriation of the subsidies to taxi operators to increase the incentive for taxi drivers, such as raising the subsidies for drivers to purchase appropriate cars.
According to a report published by the National Development Council in 2014, Taiwan is to officially become an aging society by 2018 and could even become an ultra-aging society by 2025.
The ministry yesterday presented the results of its program and invited taxi drivers and the service users to share their experiences.
Chan Wei- sheng (詹惟勝) is a taxi driver with Crown Taxi and has been carrying disabled passengers for three-and-a-half years. A father with two developmentally delayed children, Chan said that he understands what the family members of disabled passengers have been through, because he has to take his children to therapy sessions multiple times each month.
He said that it takes no more than 10 minutes to help passengers get into or out of his vehicle.
Chan said that while the service remains inaccessible to some disabled passengers, there should be enough cars to meet the demand.
“Most of the passengers who need to have dialysis or other medical treatment at hospital call for the service during the daytime, which leads to a shortage in ‘barrier-free’ taxis during certain hours of the day,” Chang said, adding that there should be a technical way to allocate the time more efficiently.
Lin Cheng-wei (林政緯), who became physically disabled in 2007, was told about the service when he was about to attend a singing contest at a television station.
“It was a typhoon day. I know the Rehabus in Taipei would be canceled. Somebody told me about the service and fortunately it was still available on a typhoon day,” he said.
While Lin managed to get to the studio in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) in time for the recording of the show, he was afraid that he might not get a taxi to go back home.
“The taxi driver volunteered to wait for us, and he waited from 9:30pm to 12:30am,” Lin said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
RSS