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Taipei exodus marks start of long weekend

Following a dragon boat race in Taoyuan County’s Longtan Township yesterday, township chief Yeh Fa-hai emulates the ancient poet Qu Yuan by jumping into the water. PHOTO: SHEN CHI-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

While hundreds of thousands of travelers hit the road on the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday yesterday, Taipei Railway Station and Songshan Airport were also packed with holidaymakers.

While traffic congestion was reported at 6pm on the southbound lanes of Freeway No. 5 near the Hsuehshan Tunnel, traffic on other freeways was relatively smooth.

Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau traffic management division chief Kang Jyh-fu (康志福) said 360,000 vehicles traveled on the nation’s freeways between midnight and 7am yesterday, the bureau’s designated toll-free hours for this year’s Dragon Boat Festival holiday. The number was about 2.4 times the average weekend traffic volume.

The bureau estimated that traffic will be heavy today from 8am to 1pm on the southbound lanes from Taoyuan to Jhongli (中壢) on Freeway No. 1, from Yingge (鶯歌) to Dasi (大溪) on Freeway No. 3 as well as on the southbound lanes on Freeway No. 5.

Motorists are advised to check for updated traffic reports on the bureau’s Web site at www.freeway.gov.tw.

Taipei Railway Station was filled with travelers eager to return to their hometowns yesterday. Many of the trains heading to the south or east were packed.

Taipei Songshan Airport was also busy yesterday. The Civil Aeronautics Administration asked UNI Air (立榮航空) and TransAsia Airways (復興航空) to add extra flights to Kinmen and Makung last night to accommodate a large number of passengers who had been placed on waiting lists.

With an eye on the long weekend, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) had conducted its water quality inspections this year of 12 of the nation’s most popular swimming spots.

The survey placed all 12 in the EPA’s “superior” category in terms of water quality.

The results represent a drastic improvement from last year’s beach water quality checks. An inspection of 10 destinations in June last year placed just one beach — Taipei County’s New Jinshan Bathing Beach (新金山) — in the “superior” category, while four had “good” water quality, two were ranked as average and three were rated as not suitable for swimming.

“On May 24 and 25 we inspected 10 popular beaches in Taiwan proper, and found all to have superior water quality suitable for swimming,” said Chu Yu-chi (朱雨其), director-general of the EPA’s department of environmental monitoring and information management.

Water quality at beaches is defined by the amount of E. coli bacteria in the water, Chu said.

“Those with E. coli concentrations of less than 1,000 colony-forming units (CFU) are defined as suitable for swimming,’” he said.

Besides New Jinshan, the beaches inspected this year include Baishawan (白沙灣) and Fulong (福隆) in Taipei County, Tunghsiao (通霄) in Miaoli County, Shanyuan (杉原) in Taitung County, Masago (馬沙溝) in Tainan County, Sizihwan (西子灣) and Cijin (旗津) in Kaohsiung City, Kenting Tiaoshih Recreational Seashore (墾丁跳石) in Pingtung County, Chisingtan (七星潭) in Hualien County, Houhu (後湖) on Kinmen and Shanshui (山水) in Penghu County.

Also See: Diabetics warned about festival treats
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