Sancheong-gun Provides Free 'Hanbang Taxi' Service for Pregnant Women

20 Tickets Provided for Hospital Visits, Usable Until Child's First Birthday
Continuous Promotion of Policies for Transportation-Disadvantaged Convenience in Taxis and Buses

Sancheong-gun Sinan Health Center is conducting a campaign to support pregnant women.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam announced on the 2nd that starting in March, it will provide free 'Bravo Hanbang Taxi' services to pregnant women when visiting hospitals for medical treatment.

This project, promoted as part of the population increase policy, supports pregnant women residing in Sancheong-gun with 20 free 'Hanbang Taxi' ride vouchers.

Until now, pregnant women in the Sancheong area often had to visit on the days when the 'Visiting Obstetrics and Gynecology' service operated by the county health medical center and Sinan health branch was available, as there are no obstetrics and gynecology clinics in the region, or they frequently used private cars to visit nearby city obstetrics and gynecology clinics.

However, there were times when it was difficult for spouses or family members to accompany them, and it was risky for pregnant women to drive private cars themselves, making transportation support measures urgently needed.

To address these difficulties, the county has allocated a budget of 100 million won this year to promote the 'Pregnant Women Hanbang Taxi Support Project.'

Pregnant women wishing to receive support for the Hanbang Taxi must submit an application form and a maternity notebook (or childbirth proof documents) to the local town or township office to register as eligible users.

Once registration is complete, they will receive 20 Hanbang Taxi ride vouchers and can call the taxi company whenever needed to safely travel to the obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Jinju. The usage period is from pregnancy until the child turns one year old.

Kwon Young-hwan, Director of the Urban Transportation Division, said, "We hope this support project will help reduce the economic burden of raising children and contribute to making Sancheong a good place to have and raise children." He added, "We will continue to make efforts to improve the quality of transportation welfare services by collecting various opinions from not only pregnant women but also transportation-vulnerable groups."

Meanwhile, since 2015, the county has been operating a region-customized '1000-won Taxi' to guarantee mobility rights for residents living in areas not served by public transportation.