The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday activated a plan to facilitate traffic and transportation during the Tomb-Sweeping holiday break, which begins today and ends on Sunday.
Homebound travelers, however, were already causing heavy traffic on national freeways last night.
To relieve the heavy traffic expected on the first day of the holiday, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau said that southbound vehicles operating on all national freeways had to observe the High Occupancy Control Policy from 6am to 11am today.
The bureau estimated that 2.3 million cars would hit the freeways today.
The policy will be applied to regulate southbound vehicles entering through the interchanges between Neihu (
It will also be used to regulate vehicles entering through the interchanges between Muzha (
From today until Sunday, highway meters on feeder roads will also be activated along the entire route of Freeway Nos. 1 and 2, and some of the road sections on Freeway Nos. 3 and 5.
From 7am to 7pm, shoulders on the side of the northbound and southbound lanes between Neili (內壢) and Jhongli (中壢) on Freeway No. 1, and those on the side of southbound lanes between Dasi (大溪) and Longtan (龍潭) on Freeway No. 3 will also be open daily during the holidays to relieve traffic.
The bureau will closely monitor the traffic on Freeway No. 5, particularly around the Hsuehshan Tunnel, as some of the travelers taking Freeway No. 5 may be heading to the Green Expo in Ilan County.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Railway Administration said that seats on its east-coast and west-coast express trains operating today and on Sunday are sold out.
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