Seoul Adds 10,000 Disabled Voucher Taxis... 1,000 Dedicated Taxis Designated

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand the voucher taxi service, which partially subsidizes fares for people with disabilities, by adding about 10,000 vehicles, bringing the total to 17,400 vehicles.

On the 30th of last month, the city signed a business agreement with KST Mobility and decided to deploy 10,000 Macaron Taxis operated by this company to the voucher taxi program for people with disabilities starting from the 9th.

The voucher taxi system allows people with severe disabilities, such as the visually impaired, to call a call taxi and pay the fare with a welfare card, with Seoul City subsidizing 75% of the fare (up to 30,000 KRW, 4 times per day). Currently, about 7,400 taxis from two companies, Nabi Call and N Call, participate in the program.

Along with increasing the number of vehicles, Seoul plans to operate 1,000 taxis exclusively for vouchers and implement a forced dispatch system to reduce the waiting time for people with disabilities. The city also plans to develop a dedicated application that is convenient for visually impaired users and introduce a reservation service.

Additionally, considering cases where voucher taxi drivers have exhibited inappropriate behavior due to a lack of understanding of disabilities, the city will provide disability awareness training for drivers.

The eligible users of voucher taxis include people with severe visual impairments, kidney disabilities, and those with physical disabilities affecting walking, brain lesions, hearing, developmental, mental, respiratory, liver, and stoma/urinary disabilities. To use the voucher taxi service, applicants must first register at their local community service center and then call the participating taxi company.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of Welfare Policy at Seoul City, said, "With the increase in voucher taxis, the waiting time for taxis for people with severe disabilities is expected to be significantly reduced, leading to higher satisfaction. We will strive to create a more convenient and safe voucher taxi service from the user's perspective to enhance mobility for people with severe disabilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.