A place that prides itself on a world-class urban transport system should be user-friendly to people who need special services to keep medical or rehabilitation appointments, or just to get around comfortably in ways other people take for granted. But such service delivery is not to be found so easily in transport for the disabled. As a result, according to the latest report of the Ombudsman, the disabled face a severe shortage of specially designed buses, with only 156 for more than 320,000 people who cannot move freely.

The Ombudsman said the government never assessed demand for rehabilitation bus services, failed to encourage the growth of alternative vehicles and lacked a timetable for the barrier-free transportation policy. In individual cases that reflected the criticism, a retiree who uses a wheelchair said she needed to book the Rehabus service two to three months in advance for non-peak hours; and a polio victim had to reschedule medical appointments periodically for fear of missing out on transport even if he booked a bus three months in advance. From 2011 to 2015, according to the Ombudsman, between 108,920 and 126,827 people applied for the rehabilitation bus service each year, and 30 to 34 per cent either failed to receive the service or gave up on their application.