Taiwan has entered a super-aged society, with nearly 600,000 people over the age of 65 in Taipei City. Shilin and Beitou district councilor candidate Chen Yijie said that the demand for barrier-free transportation continues to increase, but there are fewer and fewer general-purpose taxis under the city's control. As of August this year, there are only 138 general-purpose taxis under the city's control. Compared with 301 in 2019, a decrease of 163 units or 54.2% in seven years. Barrier-free transportation is a public service. It should be reviewed whether the current incentives are sufficient to attract long-term investment by drivers, and more efforts should be made to increase capacity and capacity to create an age-friendly city. The Public Transport Department responded that 138 is the number of operating vehicles that are still being subsidized. This year, Beicheng City has received subsidies from the Ministry of Transport for 100 general-purpose taxis, which will be licensed and put into operation in the future.
Chen Yijie pointed out that according to city government statistics, there were 597,054 people over the age of 65 in June this year, accounting for 24.61% of the city's population. Nearly one out of every four people is an elderly person. As the population ages, the number of elderly people who use wheelchairs, have limited mobility, and have medical and rehabilitation needs continues to increase. Barrier-free transportation is no longer just a need for people with disabilities. However, the universal taxis originally promoted to make up for the shortage of rehabilitation buses have failed to expand with the growth of the elderly population.
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Chen Yijie mentioned that the operation overview of general taxis in Taipei City shows that there were 301 general taxis in Taipei City in 2019. In November last year, there were only 156 taxis left. They carried 17,759 passengers that month, including 17,131 accessible services. In August this year, the number of vehicles dropped to 138, carrying 16,571 passengers and 16,084 accessible services.
Chen Yijie reminded that general taxis may not allow wheelchair users to ride directly. Rehabilitation buses have service qualifications, reservation time and capacity restrictions. General taxis are equipped with wheelchair lifting or slope equipment, which can provide more flexible point-to-point pick-up and drop-off. They are an important tool to fill the barrier-free transportation gap. For people with mobility impairments, whether they can successfully call a taxi may determine whether they can seek medical treatment on time, continue rehabilitation, and even whether they can go out normally and participate in social life.
Chen Yijie believes that the Public Transport Department has explained that although some general-purpose taxis have been withdrawn from the five-year subsidy control, it does not mean that they have withdrawn from the market. They may be transferred to long-term care services or take over the cases themselves. However, can the people who need these taxis, which are still on the market, call them? Barrier-free transportation is a public service and cannot rely entirely on market mechanisms to maintain supply and demand. It is necessary to review whether the current incentives are sufficient to attract long-term investment by drivers, and establish long-term capacity guarantee mechanisms including providing retention incentives for vehicles after the subsidy expires, and encouraging continued participation in the government-approved appointment dispatch system; based on the actual service time for picking up wheelchair passengers, empty vehicle driving costs and demand in remote areas, study differentiated operating incentives; early warning and supplementary systems before vehicles are withdrawn from convoy management, etc.
