Department of Transportation

(1) Low-floor Buses

    To provide citizens with decent accessible public transportation services, Taipei City has encouraged the use of low-floor buses among bus operators since 2008. By the end of 2022, a total of 3,098 low-floor buses were in operation, each with 1 or 2 accessible spaces for passengers with wheelchairs or other assistive devices.

(2) Accessible Midibus

    Low-floor buses are not able to operate in mountains or on narrow roads. To solve this problem, Taipei City has added accessible midibuses with wheelchair lifts as replacement. As of the end of 2022, there were 16 accessible midibuses in operation, each with 1 accessible seat and lifting facilities for passengers with wheelchairs or other assistive devices, improving the quality of accessible bus services.

(3) Large Rehabus

    Large rehabuses equipped with wheelchair lifts and over six wheelchair spaces are in place to provide Taipei citizens with quality accessible public transportation. As of the end of 2022, there were 6 large rehabuses in operation. Groups of people with disabilities can make a reservation with a bus operator and enjoy half-price bus tickets.

(4) Small Rehabus

    To provide people with disabilities with door-to-door transportation services, Taipei City has promoted small rehabuses since 1989 at 1/3 of taxi fare to reduce the burden on users. The city government also continues to accept donated small rehabuses from the private sector. As of the end of 2022, there were a total of 328 small rehabuses, providing over 500,000 trips. On average they provide 45,276 trips for 79,469 people every month.

(5) Senior and Disability-friendly Taxi

    In response to our aging society, the “Senior and Disability-friendly Fleet”, the first fleet in Taiwan that integrates bus and taxi tickets with EasyCard, was set up in June, 2009. The transportation resources and social welfare of taxi dispatch fleets are integrated to encourage the elderly and those with disability to socially participate. They can have access to vehicles based on the budget and nature of the trip. Moreover, contactless payment has been made available in taxis for more convenience. More than 14,000 taxis accept EasyCard. The elderly and people with disabilities can pay the fare with their Senior Citizen EasyCard (1) or Disabled EasyCard (1) when taking the senior and disability-friendly taxis and have a subsidy of 50 points (equal to NT$50) per trip. 

(6) Wheelchair Accessible Taxi Service

    Subsidy applications have been submitted to MOTC since 2012. After the public selection process, Taipei Satellite Taxi, Crown Taxi, Excellent Satellite Taxi, Dafeng Satellite Taxi and Life Transportation Co., Ltd. were entrusted with the operations. As of the end of 2022, 362 vehicles have been subsidized and put on the road. Funding will continue to be sourced from MOTC for expansion and operating environment to increase convenience and meet demand.