Building a transportation environment that is accessible to physically challenged people is high on the Executive Yuan's policy agenda, reiterated Premier Mao Chi-kuo at a Cabinet meeting held today.
After hearing the Ministry of Transportation and Communication's (MOTC) report on its efforts in this area, the premier commended the ministry for having brought barrier-free services to many transportation facilities in the country.
For transportation vehicles, for example, the proportion of low-floor buses in urban areas has increased rapidly from 7.2 percent in 2009 to the current 43 percent. As for taxis, the government began promoting wheelchair-accessible cabs two years ago, but no suitable car types existed then. Nowadays with domestically manufactured cars available to offer such service, the MOTC is planning to grow the number of wheelchair-accessible taxis from 200 plus currently to 400 by the end of 2015.
Creating a comprehensive, barrier-free environment requires the participation of central and local governments as well as the private sector, said the premier. He urged other agencies to learn from the MOTC's practices. The agencies should also invite disability groups for inspections while also conducting their own examination of the facilities under their charge to make sure services are up to standard.
Responding to suggestions from disability groups that all public space—including the general spaces like parks and recreational areas as well as the narrowly defined spaces—should be barrier-free, Mao directed the Construction and Planning Agency and other agencies to formulate standards so that all such space in the future would meet barrier-free requirements.
The idea of accessibility is to make public facilities and environments barrier-free, thus protecting the rights of differently abled persons and serving the needs of an aging society. The government should therefore consider using universal or inclusive designs when planning specifications for public facilities, Mao added.
To make the transportation environment barrier-free, the MOTC is bringing accessibility services to transport stations and public vehicles, subsidizing the purchase of wheelchair-accessible cars, and creating a barrier-free travel environment. The Taiwan Railways Administration, for instance, has operated barrier-free stations for many years and is still making improvements. It has already installed accessible elevators at 104 stations and plans to make another 47 stations barrier-free by 2021.