The government aims to have full public transportation service coverage by 2028, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said on Thursday.
The ministry set the goal after upgrading the Happiness Bus service, an alternative public transportation service that is available to residents of remote towns and urban areas.
The service complements public bus services by allowing residents to make reservations for shuttle bus services to schools and hospitals, and to shop for groceries.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The shuttles can also be used to carry tourists when not servicing residents.
The Happiness Bus service has since 2016 been expanded to include 475 routes in 186 townships, up from 15 service routes in 10 townships.
It has also helped raise the public transportation service coverage rate in remote towns to 94.37 percent, up from 70 percent in 2016.
Laiyi Township (來義) in Pingtung County, with a majority of residents being Paiwan, is one of the townships where the Happiness Bus has achieved great success. The township is also home to Erfeng Canal (二峰圳), a travel destination that was built in 1921 to facilitate irrigation of the Pingtung Plain.
Although residents can access buses run by Ping Tung Bus Co, the bus is only available every two hours, while drivers of Happiness Bus services are directly hired from the township, the Highway Bureau said.
With three midsize shuttle buses and four cars in its fleet, the shuttle bus service has 12 service routes and can take residents to Chaojhou (潮州), Donggang (東港), Fangliao (枋寮) and other places in Pingtung County.
It is also the first township in the nation that uses midsize shuttle buses to service elderly and disabled passengers, the bureau said.
As of last month, the service had been used by more than 52,000 passengers, bureau data showed.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) on Thursday visited Laiyi Township with other officials.
An elderly woman who uses the Happiness Bus service told him that going to hospital had always been a problem because all her children live out of town.
Her problem was solved once the Happiness Bus became available, she said.
“A one-way trip only costs NT$10, but I do not have to pay because I have an elderly citizen card,” she said.
Another elderly woman told Chen that she can now see her friends in another village frequently by using the bus, gatherings which resemble a school reunion.
Chen pledged that the Happiness Bus service would continue to help people access medical services and schools, and bring tourists to the town.
“We will continue to work with local governments to ensure that people in remote and urban areas have equal access to public transportation. By 2028, all towns will have bus services, with the coverage rate of public transportation services reaching 100 percent,” Chen said.
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