bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Guangzhou's citywide ban on motorcycles has delivered a  booming business to  owners of special scooters for the handicapped, who are using  their vehicles to transport people and goods.

Able-bodied touts  are trying to muscle in on  the trade, according to industry sources.

The city's  ban on motorcycles and electric bicycles in urban areas  came into effect on January 1 in an attempt to untangle traffic and reduce drive-by robberies that have  long plagued Guangzhou.

But the ban also forced  operators of the city's 100,000 or so motorcycle taxis  to give up their illegal but profitable businesses.

The policy has benefited some owners of special scooters for the  disabled who use their vehicles to ferry passengers and goods, with some  saying the ban has at least doubled their business.

More than 20 special-scooter drivers were waiting for passengers outside a wholesale clothing market in  Renminnan Road on Wednesday, including  41-year-old  Mr Fang.

He said most of the drivers started work  at  6am and could earn  150 yuan a  day on average, about 50 per cent more than when they competed with motorcycle taxis.

Mr Fang  said scooter taxis had operated outside the market for several years, but the number had tripled to about 50 at  peak periods in the past fortnight.

More than half  the scooter taxi touts outside the market appeared to have no difficulty walking and easily lifted  customers' heavy goods on to the vehicles.

Mr Fang said some able-bodied opportunists  had moved into their business by buying scooters from disabled people or renting the vehicles for 1,500 yuan to 2,000 yuan a month.

'I have found more  able-bodied people [in the business] in the past several weeks,' he said. 'They are stealing from handicapped people because most customers choose them.'

Similar scooter taxis were also  easy to find  near the Guangzhou Railway Station, Yide Road and Shatai Road, where wholesale clothing, toy and shoe markets are located.

However, local reports said Guangzhou traffic police had begun to take action against them, with about  100 officers detaining 57 scooter taxi drivers during a raid outside a wholesale clothing market next to the railway station on Wednesday afternoon.

About 4,000   scooters for the handicapped are registered in Guangzhou,  local media reports said.

The local disabled persons' federation said it was illegal for the scooters to be used as taxis, but the  organisation had no right to punish the riders.

Several scooter passengers said they hoped the authorities would allow the handicapped to continue their 'taxi' service because it could provide much-needed income for their families.

One  owner of a confiscated electric bicycle has filed a lawsuit challenging the  ban.

Ye Cunhuan, 41, said she applied to Panyu District People's Court to have her electric bicycle returned after police took it last month, accusing her of 'adding an electric engine to a bicycle'.

A verdict is due by March 8.  Three similar cases are expected to be heard in the next few months.



Disabled scooters take place  of banned motorbike taxis