Roads, trains and planes were all packed yesterday as millions of people headed home from their Lunar New Year holiday.
Traffic on the two north-south freeways was heavy all day.
To minimize traffic congestion, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau allowed vehicles to travel toll-free between 12am and 6am both Monday and yesterday.
Holiday traffic restrictions barred vehicles carrying fewer than three people from the freeways between 9am and 5pm yesterday.
Authorities had expected vehicles to average 80kph on the freeways, but heavy traffic in some areas, including around Miaoli, Chungli and Yangmei, slowed cars to an average of 20kph to 40kph.
Rest areas along the freeways were also crowded and lines of cars formed as people waited for parking spaces.
According to the traffic bureau, some 2.38 million vehicles used the two freeways yesterday, with over 140,000 more vehicles using the northbound highways than the southbound highways.
The 52 south- and northbound trains operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration were full yesterday. Officials said there were still a few seats available on today's trains in either direction.
TransAsia Airways, UNI Airways and Far East Air Transport Corp said that all seats on their northbound flights yesterday were full.
Meanwhile, the chilly temperatures that kept people bundled up over the holidays will continue.
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday warned that a cold front from China will make today -- the final day of the official Lunar New Year holiday -- the coldest one yet of the vacation.
Temperatures are expected to drop as low as 8?C both today and tomorrow.
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