Department of Transportation

More minibuses for the disabled will provide special transportation service for people with disabilities, according to the Taipei Public Transportation Office. It is in the hope of providing people with physical and mental disabilities (in particular people requiring wheelchairs) barrier-free and careful transportation service, and convenient access to other public transportation.
With the consideration for disadvantaged people’s interests and rights, there were a total of 171 minibuses providing the special transportation service by end of July. Each minibus is equipped with a wheelchair elevator. The fare is only 1/3 of daytime taxi fares. People with disabilities can access to this service simply by making a reservation according to relevant rules. In average, the minibuses delivered the special service for 37,970 times per month in 2011, and served 70,476 passengers
People with disabilities usually feel reluctant to go out because of their difficulty of walking. This convenient and inexpensive transportation service indirectly encourages those people to go out and enjoy their lives.
Commented by the Taipei Public Transportation Office, number of the minibuses for people with disabilities in Taipei City has been increasing, and relevant services and regulations have also been reviewed. The service delivery and quality thus have been effectively increased. During this period of time, many organizations and individuals made donations to purchase the minibuses were a significant help for having more minibuses delivering this special service. We appreciate those people for their unceasing care about people with disabilities. We received more donations this year again so we expect to have 180 minibuses at the end of this year. However, this number of minibuses is still not adequate to serve the currently more than 110,000 people with disabilities, particularly those with moderate and severe difficulty of walking. To solve this problem, while increasing the service efficiency by operational management and encouraging passengers to share one minibus, it is gradually promoting alternative transportation and other transportation services for people with mild and moderate disabilities (eg. minibus for the elderly, low-floor bus). Furthermore, we expect more people will make donations through private organizations so there will be more minibuses providing the special transportation service for people with disabilities, making Taipei become a barrier-free and transportation friendly city.

2011-08-09