A number of disabled groups yesterday protested against the scheduled fee increase of Fu-Kang Bus in Taipei City and expressed dissatisfaction over the difficulty in reserving one of the 126 buses provided by the city government to serve more than 100,000 disabled citizens.
Fu-Kang Bus is the public vehicles that transport disabled people in Taipei City.
The fee for the bus, one-third of taxi fares, will be increased automatically with the taxi fares next month as the Taipei City Government has agreed.
Along with the new taxi fare policy, the bus fare will increase NT$5, according to the Taipei City's Department of Transportation.
"Fu-Kang Bus is a great transportation tool for the disabled, but the supply can't meet our demand. The increase in the fare may make the situation worse," Lin Yu-chih (
Shih Yung-mu (施雍穆), a member of Association of Spinal Cord Injury in Taipei, complained about the bus policy, which required the disabled to reserve the bus at least three days in advance, and called on the city government to reconsider its plan to purchase low chassis buses seeking to serve disabled groups.
"The undersupply of buses is not a new issue. Besides, the call reservation policy can't really help those in emergency situations. I don't know what will happen to me in three days," he said.
Accompanied by a group of disabled persons, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) lashed out at the city government for wasting Taipei residents' money by budgeting NT$100 million (US$3 million) to purchase 100 low-chassis buses next year.
Instead of purchasing low-chassis buses, which would likely cause traffic congestion when disabled people tried to get on the buses, she urged the city government to use the money to purchase more Fu-Kang buses.
Yeh Tzu-chuan (
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese