o National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to install accommodation facilities in inter-city bus and city bus for people in wheelchair and receive reservation from people with disabilities to enable them to take bus.
O NHRCK also recommended to the Minister of Strategy and Finance to provide budget necessary for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to install accommodation facilities in express bus and to expand financial and tax benefits for transportation companies to encourage them to provide better accommodation facilities for people with disabilities.
o Express or intercity bus in operation in Korea lacks accommodation for people in wheelchair. Complaints were submitted to the NHRCK by people in wheelchair for facing restriction in use of express, intercity, or airport bus.
o In this regard, express and intercity bus companies claimed that it is against the law to remodel the bus to install wheelchair elevating facilities and the bus manufacturing companies do not produce buses that enables ride of people with wheelchair.
o However, NHRCK confirmed with the Ministry of Land,Infrastructure and Transportation that it is not against to law to install elevating facilities in buses, and there are 243 cases
approved by the Korean Transportation Safety Authority to remodel bus from 2006 to 2016. In addition, Korean bus manufactures also produce and sell express or intercity bus in
which ride in wheelchair is possible.
o As of June 30, the number of intercity and city bus in operation across the country is 10,730 and 4,635 respectively, of which only 33 double-decker bus in Gyeonggido are equipped with elevating facilities for wheelchair.
O The Disability Discrimination Rectification Committee of NHRCK concluded that it is duty of transportation companies to provide elevating facilities in bus for people in wheelchair. It also concluded it is violation of article 19.4 of the Disability Discrimination Act that the transportation company not fulfilling its duty to establish such facilities unless they are unable to manage their business due to serious economic difficulties.
