There are very few buses in rural areas, and many village heads do not even have buses to take. Chen Suyue, candidate for mayor of Changhua County of the Democratic Progressive Party, proposed the "Happy Little Yellow Bus Public Transport Plan" today (1st), advocating that taxis be used to make up for the shortcomings of existing public transport. People only need to pay the bus fare to enjoy flexible pick-up and drop-off services. Chen Suyue said that Happy Xiaohuang is not to replace the big bus, but to make up for the shortcomings. Not every settlement needs a big bus, but every villager deserves to enjoy public transportation, and through flexible transportation, open up the arteries of life out of the house.
There is no MRT in Changhua County, and bus routes do not cover all the villages in the 26 townships. It is located in a rural area close to the sea. Due to its small population, there have been no planned bus routes for a long time. Many elders living in Zhuangtou can only rely on relatives and friends for transportation.
Chen Suyue said that when she visits grassroots communities, she often hears feedback from people that although Changhua has important facilities such as high-speed rail and large hospitals, many rural settlements lack convenient connections. It is inconvenient to take a ride to see a doctor, visit relatives, or transfer to a train or high-speed rail. Therefore, she promised to promote the "Happy Little Yellow Bus Public Transport Plan" after being elected, allowing taxis to replace the unreachable routes that are currently difficult to reach by buses, so as to achieve the convenience of life "when Little Yellow goes to Zhuangtou, and happiness reaches the house".
In terms of the operating model, Chen Suyue plans to use three tracks of parallel booking via phone, LINE official account and APP software. She said that considering that many elderly people are not familiar with the operation of smartphones, in the future, they can call and report their address to request a ride. The digital gap will not affect their rights of use, and the route will give priority to connecting village activity centers, health clinics, hospitals, long-term care centers, schools, markets, railway stations, high-speed rail stations and other places.
In response to external concerns about the source of funding, she said that in the future she will strive for subsidies from the Ministry of Transportation’s Public Transportation Affirmative Action Plan, which will be promoted by the county government’s allocation of matching funds, and the county government will match up with local taxi operators to provide services. She will also explore options such as Evergreen Card, Good Pregnancy Card, and TPASS Commuting Pass to reduce the public’s transportation burden.
Hong Zhaoxun, chairman of the Changhua County Taxi Traders Association, and industry representatives attended the event to support the event. He said that with perfect route planning and reasonable subsidies, it would not only allow taxi drivers to have a more stable income, but also make up for the public transportation gap in Zhuangtou, taking into account the needs of the people and the livelihood of drivers, and achieve a win-win situation for the government, passengers and transporters.
