Traffic near the Yuanshan Bus Station (圓山轉運站) in Taipei was severely disrupted yesterday morning when thousands of people tried to get free tickets for a bus trip to Yilan County.
The special offer was provided by freeway operator Kuo Kuang Motor Transport (國光客運), which was scheduled to launch three new bus routes via Freeway No. 5 to Yilan, Toucheng (頭城) and Nanfangao (南方澳) in Yilan County yesterday. To attract customers for the new bus routes, the bus company allowed people to board the bus free of charge for three days, from yesterday until tomorrow.
The bus company originally planned to hand out 20,000 tickets in three days. However, all the tickets were gone by 10am yesterday. Many people at the station were furious because they started queuing at 4am and did not manage to get tickets.
Photo: Tseng Hong-ju, Taipei Times
The promotional event turned into a pandemonium when some people fought to get on the bus. Others tried to stop the first two buses from leaving the station by blocking their way, which subsequently affected the traffic near the bus station
“I left my house in Dashi (大溪) [in Taoyuan County] at about 5am and arrived here at about 6am. Those who were behind us had already moved up and got tickets, but we are still waiting here in line,” an 84-year-old man said.
One woman was so angry that she tore up the newspaper advertisement about the free offer, accusing the company of lying to the public.
To appease the people’s anger, the bus company announced yesterday that it would extend the expiration date from tomorrow to a month from yesterday.
Kuo Kuang spokesperson Song Li-shan (宋立山) apologized to the public for letting the situation get out of control.
Taipei City’s Department of Transportation yesterday fined Kuo Kuang more than NT$90,000 (US$3,000) for violating traffic regulations.
Upon hearing about the chaotic situation that affected the traffic, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) instructed the Department of Transportation to protect the rights of passengers and to punish the bus company if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Directorate-General of Highways said the bus operator could face a penalty of NT$351,000 for operating the new bus routes without first obtaining the official permits to do so.
Hsieh Chieh-tien (謝界田), director of the DGH’s motor vehicle division, said the directorate did not approve the company’s right to operate the new routes until 5pm on Thursday, adding that the company did not obtain the official permit until 11:15am yesterday.
“The bus company violated the Transportation Management Regulations (汽車運輸業管理規則) by launching the service before obtaining the permit,” Hsieh said. “It dispatched 39 buses on the new bus routes before 11:15am yesterday and the penalty for each illegally dispatched bus is NT$9,000, based on the Highway Act (公路法).”
However, Kuo Kuang president Wu Chung-hsi (吳忠錫) disagreed with the directorate’s interpretation of the law, adding that the company would lodge an appeal after receiving the official ruling from the directorate.
“Our understanding is that we had secured the right to provide a bus service on the new routes after they approved our applications,” Wu said.
Wu said the company would pay the fines issued by the Taipei City Government, but it would also lodge an appeal for the parts of the offense for which it is not to blame.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS