City begins to tear down former bus-ticket kiosks

For eight years, Wu Chun-hsia (吳春霞) has sold bus tickets from a tiny, steel kiosk just 1.5m2 in size.

The booth wasn't much to look at, but it was where the 66-year-old earned her living selling bus fares, magazines, cold drinks and candy.

It took less than 15 minutes yesterday for Taipei City workers to dismantle what had been the source of Wu's livelihood.

As workers bulldozed the kiosk to rubble, tears rolled down the widow's face, as her thoughts turned to how to she would make ends meet in the future.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Wu said.

Wu's booth was the first of 24 roadside bus-ticket kiosks torn down by the Taipei City Bus Administration yesterday.

The city plans to demolish all of Taipei's remaining 178 roadside bus ticket booths before December.

The idea is meant to beautify Taipei, but vendors like Wu say the city government's plans for progress will leave them in financial ruin.

Chuang Ju-lan (莊如蘭) and her wheelchair-bound husband Lin Wan-fu (林萬福), who sold bus fares for more than 40 years, worry about mortgage payments and their family. "I don't know how we're supposed to pay the mortgage and feed our two sons, both of whom are mentally impaired," Chuang said.

Lu Chin-sheng (陸進勝), division chief of the bus administration, said the roadside ticket booths are unsightly and unnecessary.

"In order to beautify the streets -- and since commuters can buy stored-value bus tickets at convenience stores -- there's no need to have them around any longer," Lu said.

The city set up the booths in 1950 to make purchasing bus tickets more convenient for commuters. At one time, there were more than 300 kiosks in Taipei.

But since 1994, when commuters were required to pay bus fares with change, bus tickets have not been available at the booths.

Soon after stored-value bus cards were introduced in 1995, the city decided to gradually tear down the booths. Between 1996 and 1998 alone, more than 50 booths were dismantled.

In June last year, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) officially gave the green light to demolish the city's remaining booths, starting January in this year.

The date was extended to July following pressure from a union of bus-ticket retailers.

Soong Hsi-ying (宋細英), the union's leader, said the city has been unwilling to compensate venders for their loss, and the assistance the government has offered comes up short.

"We've been begging the city government to spare the booths and pay us a certain amount in compensation for the past 12 years, when I first took up the job," Soong said. "But the city government flatly says no to our requests."

Soong added that although the city has offered to issue street vending licenses to those whose booths are demolished, the odds of getting one are slim.

"For example, they give priority to low-income individuals and indigenous people, while most of us are senior citizens," she said, adding that the average age of the booth vendors was 55.

Because the city government seems unwilling to reverse its decision, Soong said, it should at least offer training courses to help vendors find other jobs.

"We may have one last chance to tell them what we want," she said.

Soong said booth vendors plan to meet with city officials on Tuesday.