Taxis and public transportation vehicles will receive a fuel subsidy of NT$2 (US$0.06) and NT$3 per liter respectively, effective immediately, the Cabinet announced yesterday.
"We want to encourage the public to take advantage of the public transport system instead of driving their own vehicles," Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) said during yesterday morning's Cabinet meeting.
He said that taxi drivers would receive a subsidy of NT$2 per liter of fuel on up to 550 liters per month.
PHOTO: CNA
Public transportation vehicles, including both local and long-distance buses, will be subsidized NT$3 per liter of diesel.
The maximum volume of fuel for which bus operators are eligible for the subsidy will be the average amount of diesel each company used per month between last July and last month.
Chen said that the reimbursements for public transport vehicles would only cover companies that have contracts for fuel with CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油).
He said that the subsidies would remain in place until either gas prices fall or bus and taxi fares are increased.
Chen reiterated that the floating mechanism for setting gas prices would not be changed.
"We may adjust it but we will not suspend it," Chen said. "The mechanism reflects the unstable nature of gas prices. It is impossible for us to return to the situation we had in the past."
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications also confirmed yesterday that both long-distance bus operators and local bus operators have said they would not raise ticket prices in the short term despite rising gas prices.
Chang Shun-ching (張舜清), a section chief at the ministry's Department of Railways and Highways, said the weighted average price of diesel had already exceeded the ministry's fare adjustment threshold of NT$25.63 per liter.
Chang said that the department had decided not to raise fares because the Executive Yuan had already indicated that it was considering subsidizing bus service providers to ensure continued operations during the current period of high fuel prices.
Directorate General of Highways head James Chen (陳晉源) said last week that bus operators were unlikely to increase fares immediately because they would only be able to raise them by either NT$1 or NT$2 and then would not be able to increase them again for another four months.
Despite the Executive Yuan's new subsidies, many operators complained that only those who purchase diesel from CPC Corp, Taiwan gas stations would benefit from the policy.
Those who use Formosa Petrochemical Corp or other gas station franchises for their diesel do not qualify for the subsidy.
Chang said that private gas stations were more flexible in negotiating their deals with bus operators and were therefore not included in the plan.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft