For Huang Ya-wen (黃雅雯), who uses a wheelchair, transferring from one line to another or getting in and out of the Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT Station is a nightmare.
Passenger traffic at the transfer station for the MRT blue line and the Xinzhuang-Luzhou Line reaches about 17,000 during the 8am to 9am rush hour. However, the station has only one elevator, located in the middle of the platform. People who use wheelchairs, parents with strollers, passengers with luggage and even cyclists with their bicycles are often crowded around the narrow platform to get into the elevator, with the waiting time sometimes going beyond 30 minutes.
“One elevator is clearly not enough in such a big MRT station. Besides the long wait for the elevator, it’s very dangerous to move around in the narrow and crowded platform,” Huang said yesterday at the station.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Ho Chih-wei (何志偉), who joined Huang and several people who use wheelchairs to inspect the station, slammed the city government for the unfriendly environment for people with disabilities and called for improvements.
“Taipei City’s Department of Rapid Transportation Systems did not consider the needs of wheelchair users when designing the station. It should take full responsibility for the poor design,” Ho said.
Chiu Chao-ting (邱照庭), a division chief at the department, said the station was originally designed as part of the medium-capacity network of the MRT Nangang Line.
Passenger traffic at the station has increased sharply after the launch of the Xinzhuang-Luzhou line, but the department does not plan to install another elevator because it would affect the station’s overall design, he said.
Chiu said the department would consider expanding the elevator’s space to increase its capacity from 15 passengers to 24.
His comments failed to satisfy the group.
Shih Yung-mu (施雍穆), director of the Association of Spinal Cord Injury Taipei, said the department had never considered the needs of people with disabilities when designing MRT lines and stations.
With more MRT lines being built, he urged the city government to avoid similar problems and include disability-friendly facilities in the design of future stations.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS