Special cabbies struggle for business
0 Comments
Duan said larger taxis are easier to access, especially for wheelchairs, and can provide enough space for another two people to take care of the disabled passenger.
"It's hard to order a taxi for disabled people. Standard taxis refuse to take them because the wheelchair can't easily be put into the car. Most disabled or elderly people must like these special taxis," Duan said.
The operator of the city's hotline for wheelchair accessible taxis said that citizens should order them a day in advance, but there are only 10 taxis that currently run the service.
"Most families with disabled relatives are not rich, and can go out only with the help of others. I drive them because I wonder what life will be like when I get old," Yang said.
Yu Kai, assistant general manager of the third branch of Shouqi Group, said the company pays its taxi drivers 50 yuan per trip as compensation.
But this is not enough.
"We are allowed to do normal business like other taxis in our free time, but many people refuse to take our taxis because they think they look like an ambulance," said Yang.
Beijing now has more than one million disabled citizens. The city started a program of improving public transport in 2008, and now roughly 90 percent of the city's 20,000 buses are equipped with facilities for disabled people.
Comments