Equal Opportunities Commission

Search

E-news Issue 203

Back

New wheelchair-accessible taxi model benefits PWDs but needs policy backup

On 25 January 2019, the biggest taxi supplier in Hong Kong announced the introduction of Comfort Hybrid Taxi, a new model of wheelchair-accessible taxi (WAT). Nearly 1,000 new taxis are expected to hit the road by the end of 2019.

While the EOC appreciates the move as a step forward in enhancing the accessibility of public transport for persons with disabilities (PWDs), some PWDs have raised a very legitimate concern. For a wheelchair user to get on the taxi, it may take up to 15 minutes to operate the folding ramp. This is likely to deter drivers from picking up wheelchair users in the first place, thus defeating the purpose of the initiative. In view of this, the EOC Chairperson, Prof Alfred CHAN Cheung-ming wrote to the Secretary for Transport and Housing recently.

As Prof Chan wrote in an article published in am730 on 6 February 2019, the Government may consider reviewing subsidy schemes in Sydney and providing similar incentives to cover the extra time costs for drivers to pick up wheelchair users. This was indeed one of the recommendations in the EOC’s 2018 report on the “Study on Taxi Accessibility of Hong Kong”, which served as a preliminiary review of the accessibility of taxis in Hong Kong within the context of Government policies and regulations. The Government is also recommended to provide training for pre-service and existing drivers on a regular basis to raise awarenesss of the anti-discrimination laws and remove attitudinal barriers for PWDs accessing the public transport system. For more details on the study, please click the link below.

Top