Every bus has priority seats, which, in most people’s view, are primarily for elderly people, the disabled, pregnant women and children. A man in his 50s surnamed Chen says that once when he was riding a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus he felt ill and the priority seat in front of him was empty, but he did not dare to sit down. He suggests that priority seats be changed to “seats for those in need” so that anyone who is feeling uncomfortable can sit there.
Lu Chia-chia, head of the Taichung City Government Transportation Bureau’s Transportation Management Section, says that the definition of the phrase“for those in need” is too broad and some people might take advantage of it, such as by saying, “I am using my phone so I need to sit down.” This would then exclude the disadvantaged groups who really need a seat. On the Taipei Metro, as well as Japan’s and Hong Kong’s rapid transport networks, such seats are marked as “priority seat” and not as “for those in need.” Whether Taichung needs to make some changes will need some careful deliberation, and the Taichung City Government Transportation Bureau will discuss the matter with the Public Transportation Office.
Chen says that a few days ago he was taking the BRT from Taichung Train Station to the Taichung Veterans General Hospital. At the time the bus seats were nearly all full and the only vacant one was a priority seat, while some passengers were standing. He felt really ill and wanted to sit down in the empty seat, but he was afraid that people would look askance at him, thinking that a grown man should not occupy a priority seat.
Photo: Su Chin-Feng, Taipei Times
自由時報記者蘇金鳳攝
Chen says that the general public’s general impression of priority seats is that they are only for elderly people, the disabled, pregnant women and children. He therefore suggests that priority seats should be marked as “for those in need” so that anyone who needs to sit there can do so, instead of having to gaze longingly at an empty seat.
(Liberty Times Translated by Clare Lear)
每一輛公車都有博愛座，在一般人想法中，就是要給老弱婦孺優先坐的位子。有一位五十多歲的陳姓中年男子反映，日前他搭乘雙節巴士，當時他的身體相當不舒服，眼見博愛座有空位，又不敢坐；他建議博愛座應改為「有需求者座位」，讓身體不適的任何人皆可坐下。
交通局運輸管理科長盧佳佳表示，「有需求者」定義太廣，有人可 能會扭曲解釋，如「我滑手機也有需求」等，反而排擠真正弱勢需要有位子的民眾；台北捷運及日本、香港則是「博愛優先座」，也不是「有需求者座位」。台中市 是否要修改，真的要非常審慎研議，交通局會跟公共運輸處討論。
陳姓男子說，日前他從台中車站搭雙節巴士要到台中榮總，當時雙節巴士的座位已滿，只剩下博愛座上一個位子，而車子也有一些乘客是站著，他當時已很不舒服，很想坐在空的博愛座上，但又怕別人側目，認為他一個大男人佔什麼博愛座。
陳姓男子表示，博愛座給人既定的印象，就是只有老弱婦孺才能坐，他建議，博愛座應該改設為「有需要者的座位 」，讓任何有需要的人就可坐，不用再望著空椅興嘆。
〔記者蘇金鳳／台中報導〕
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