ANALYSIS OF ROLES OF TAXI SERVICE AND TAXI SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR MOBILITY OF ELDERLY PEOPLE LIVING IN DEPOPULATED AREAS

With an increasingly aging population and the deregulation of policies concerning public transportation, securing the mobility of elderly people, especially those living in rural areas, has become a serious problem. This study aimed to clarify the actual conditions and issues for elderly people when using taxi services, and to examine the role of a taxi subsidy scheme (TSS) as a future policy for securing the mobility of elderly people in rural areas. By using a web questionnaire survey with 300 people over 65 years old and able to go out by themselves, a comparative analysis was conducted between three focus groups: people with private cars, people without a private car and with no TSS, and people supported by a TSS. The results show that the TSS has a certain effect on ensuring mobility for the elderly in depopulated areas. People without the ability to use public or private transportation freely showed a strong desire to increase the subsidy rate and number of usage instances. In view of this, the utilization of a “shared taxi” reservation type is suggested for improving the subsidy rate