Taipei City Councilors Highlight Difficulties for Elderly Using Respect Card for Taxis; Transportation Department to Review Solutions

Taipei City councilors have pointed out that despite the city's policy allowing the use of the Respect Card's points for taxi services, many elderly residents have recently reported difficulties in hailing cabs and instances of drivers refusing service. The Department of Transportation stated today that it will hold meetings with taxi fleets and cross-departmental agencies to discuss and formulate accompanying measures.

The Taipei City Government has been promoting the "Respect and Love Taxi" service for the elderly and disabled, enabling citizens to use their issued Respect or Love EasyCards for taxi rides. However, elected officials have received feedback from seniors about the challenges they face.

Taipei City Councilor Wang Hsin-yi (KMT) stated in her questioning materials that although the city has had the policy of using Respect Card points for taxis for many years, elders have recently frequently reported issues such as being unable to book rides, drivers refusing service, or refusing to swipe the Respect Card. She believes this situation arises from the city government's administrative inertia, leading to dissatisfaction among the elderly.

She cited data indicating that Taipei has 12,600 Respect and Love taxis. However, based on card swipe data from March of this year, each driver served an average of only 15 rides per month, meaning less than one ride every two days. Furthermore, the average monthly subsidy of over 124,000 rides only applies to successful transactions. Many instances involve seniors being unable to book a ride or being refused service by drivers citing machine malfunctions, leading to a "black number" of forced cash payments.

Wang Hsin-yi noted that many taxi drivers are reluctant to accept these rides because they have to bear a 2.5% to 3% fee. This not only reduces their earnings but also feels like a commission. She calculated that this fee amounts to approximately over 3 million NT dollars annually. She suggested that the city government should be capable of providing corresponding feedback or subsidies to encourage drivers to accept more rides, thereby resolving the predicament of seniors being unable to get transportation.

The Department of Transportation responded that from a traffic safety perspective, this policy aims to encourage seniors to take taxis more often and drive less themselves. Following the direction suggested by the councilor, they will invite the Department of Social Welfare, EasyCard Corporation, taxi fleets, and taxi industry guilds to a meeting to discuss and specifically propose accompanying measures to ensure the rights and interests of seniors using the Respect Card for taxi services. (Editor: Guan Zhong-wei) 1150513