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.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to