Efforts of the Sanko Taxi | Examples of accessible-tourism promotion

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Efforts of Sanko Taxi

Efforts of Sanko Taxi 1-15-21 Mukodai-cho, Nishitokyo, Tokyo

Eliminating barriers and being considerate of our customers' feelings

Our goal is to provide exciting, impressive experiences to everyone

Sanko Taxi, which runs a community-based taxi business in Nishitokyo, started introducing welfare vehicles in 2000, an early stage. Part of the company's vision is to act as a city adviser, and the company does not limit its efforts to taxis as a method of transportation. Instead, the company also responds to the desire of people-including elderly and physically disabled people-to be excited by offering custom-made tours that provide impressive experiences and make assistance available. Eiichiro Machida, the CEO, talked to us about the company's specific efforts.

Introducing service in anticipation of future needs starting in 2000

In 2000, we started providing Welcab-vehicle service because we considered doing so necessary to respond to customer needs as a local taxi company given that the use of taxis as a transportation method is expected to increase. To achieve this, a total of six company employees-including myself-obtained helper (care worker) level 2 certification. At the time, hardly any of our drivers had this certification. Currently, however, there are over 20 drivers at our company who have obtained helper level 2 certification. Due to their specialized knowledge, they are trusted not only by users but by hospitals as well.
After that-due to our expectation that there would be an increase in demand for vehicles that can be ridden by people in wheelchairs-we started providing universal-taxi-design service in 2006. Our current service includes 7 wheelcab vehicles and 14 universal-design taxis. One of the wheelcab vehicles is an ESQUIRE, an electric wheelcab that can seat up to seven people. In addition, eleven of our universal-design taxis are JPN TAXI, two are SIENTA, which are small and easy to maneuver, and the remaining one is a NOAH, which can seat seven people. When we first started providing this service, the number of cases grew from 70 or so per year (an average of 6 cases per month) to just under 300 cases used per month, 50 times as many as in June 2008. Currently, the number is around 120 per month, partly due to novel coronavirus. As described above, demand for Universal Design Taxis has been steady, and as of the end of October 2022, a total of 45,024 taxis had been used. (In addition to hospital visits, some customers use the service for daily errands such as going out for a drink, or for the original tours described below.

Utilizing both in-house and company-external knowledge and experience to provide original service

Using a slope to get into a taxi

For a fee, in addition to helping customers get into our taxis, we provide monitoring assistance. For example, when a customer leaves the hospital, we can have one of our drivers accompany the customer from the hospital room and provide support to help them get where they're going.
In addition, to respond to the desire of customers to be excited, our in-house tour planners set up original tours, drive, and act as guides. In the case of elderly and physically disabled people, we also offer assistance so that anyone can participate. When setting up tours, we rely on the advice of specialists. For example, in the case of a tour that involved traveling with a pet, we discussed the points to note with someone at a veterinary hospital, and, when visiting a shrine on another tour, we had the chief priest there provide guidance. Many of our drivers have diverse career backgrounds-including former tour conductors and wedding planners-and we take full advantage of this kind of experience as well.
One especially impressive episode was when a partially paralyzed person in their 40s, who lived in a facility, contacted us with a request indicating that they wanted to go shopping. More specifically, they wanted to go shopping at a department store at which they used to work, and meet with one of their colleagues at the time. The impressive thing about this was the surprisingly wonderful smile she showed us, and even the people at the facility were amazed at her smile when we went back. In fact, she ended up becoming repeat customers after that.
In December 2021, a person with a limp participated in the "Roppongi Illumination Tour from the car window" with three of his friends. Since we were in the car except for a restroom break at Roppongi Midtown, four of us rode in a spacious 7-passenger wagon with a high ceiling, taking infection prevention into consideration so that they could enjoy the tour in peace. The tour participants were very pleased with the powerful illumination and commented, "It was very crowded, but we were able to enjoy it slowly from inside the car.
What we really want to provide isn't just a means of transportation to get people from point A to point B. We want to provide the sorts of deeply hospitable, impressive experiences that AI (artificial intelligence) cannot offer. There are always barriers here and there, and we think it is important to be able to smoothly deal with them.