Gyeonggi Province Expands Disabled Persons Call Taxi to 6 Daily Uses
Gyeonggi Province will expand the daily usage limit for special transportation services from the existing 4 to 6 times. The province also improves usage standards to allow wheelchair users in urgent situations to use the service once without prior registration and subsequently register afterward.
Gyeonggi Province announced on the 23rd that it will revise the 'Gyeonggi Province Special Transportation Service Wide-Area Mobility Standard Guidelines' incorporating these changes, effective from September 1st.
Special transportation service, commonly known as 'disabled persons call taxi,' is a vehicle equipped with wheelchair boarding facilities and other amenities that supports mobility for transportation-disadvantaged persons.
The main revisions include expanding daily usage of special transportation services from 4 to 6 times. This measure aims to more flexibly address diverse usage demands beyond medical appointments, including daily life activities and social engagement.
A new procedure is established for wheelchair users requiring special transportation services in emergency situations. If disability can be verified, users can use the special transportation service once without prior registration and then register afterward. This reflects improvement recommendations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, reducing inconvenience caused by prior registration procedures in emergencies that prevent individuals from traveling.
The province also establishes new operational grounds prioritizing wheelchair-using transportation-disadvantaged persons. Currently, special transportation services target severely mobility-impaired persons and temporary wheelchair users, dispatching vehicles to include non-wheelchair users. The revision establishes grounds for operations that can prioritize wheelchair-using transportation-disadvantaged persons, with specific operational methods to be reviewed considering vehicle operation conditions by each municipality and county.
Dispatch guidance is also strengthened. When a vehicle is dispatched, drivers are now required to call users to inform them of the dispatch and provide an estimated arrival time at the pickup location. This measure reduces inconvenience of users waiting without knowing vehicle arrival and facilitates smooth boarding.
Lee Kwan-haeng, director of Gyeonggi Province's Metropolitan Transportation Policy Division, stated, "Special transportation services for transportation-disadvantaged persons represent important transportation welfare services that enable not only simple mobility but also daily life and social participation," and added, "We will continue improving the system from the perspective of users so that wheelchair users and other transportation-disadvantaged persons can use special transportation services more conveniently and safely."