The New Taipei City Department of Transportation yesterday fined a city bus company NT$9,000 after one of its drivers refused to provide service to a person who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a type of neurological disease.
A young man surnamed Hu (胡) said that he was trying to catch a No. 857 bus outside the Luzhou Mass Rapid Transit station bound for Wugu District (五股) early on Sunday morning.
However, the Sanchung Bus Co driver told him that he was not allowed on the bus, because he was on an electric mobility scooter, Hu said.
Hu said he was able to get home on the next bus, which arrived about 10 minutes later.
Hu, who works for the city government’s Youth Advisory Committee, then filed a complaint with the department.
After reviewing footage taken from the bus’ surveillance cameras, the department fined the company NT$9,000 based on the Highway Act (公路法) for deliberately denying to provide service to passengers, said Lin Shih-chin (林詩欽), a division chief at the department.
The incident came weeks after another bus firm in New Taipei City was fined because a driver left behind two members of a family who were trying to board in Taipei.
The driver did not pay attention to whether his passengers were boarding or alighting, and as a result, the bus company was fined NT$30,000, the department said at the time.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
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