Barrier-free buses are now available to make lives easier for the elderly and the physically challenged individuals to travel in Tainan City.

But so far, the government is not seeing a significant increase in the number of passengers taking advantage of this free trial run, which will last for two weeks.

To help passengers who have difficulty with stairs, Tainan City government has recently purchased five low-floor buses, which are equipped with slope boards for people in wheelchairs. It will be much easier for the elderly and the disabled to board and exit the low-floor bus.

The buses are currently in the trial run, and passengers in Tainan are able to take the buses for free for two weeks, starting April 13th. Many people said that the low-floor buses look safer than others, which will increase their willingness to take the buses.

At the moment, there are 14 bus routes in Tainan City, and the low-floor buses are expected to serve at route No.2 and No.5, which carry more passengers than other routes.

The city's Department of Transportation said that they hope to increase the use of public transportation through these five buses, which are suitable for the elderly and the disabled.

However, during the three days of the trial run, the average number of passengers per bus remains around 200-300 people per day, which is not particularly more than usual.

The city government also said that even though the total number of bus passengers in the city has increased these years, they still need to work harder on improving the traffic network and developing new routes.

The city government has already applied for public transportation subsidy from the central government, and will establish a more complete city bus network with the fund.

It will also try to integrate the existing three bus routes to make them into the shuttle buses between Tainan rural areas and the train stations. Still, the government doesn't have the plan to build the MRT system within the city, given the low use of public transportation.