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Legislature applies pressure on MOTC over old tour buses

The legislature's transportation committee passed a resolution yesterday requesting that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications temporarily suspend a new transportation regulation that would limit the use of tour buses that have been in operation for more than 12 years.

The resolution was jointly proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Wang Tuoh (王拓) and seven other legislators serving on the committee, who considered that the regulation violated the principle of equality and clearly went against the spirit of the Highway Law (公路法).

They also requested that the Department of Railways and Highways fix the wording of some articles in the regulation within two months.

In addition, the lawmakers said the government should regulate the number of tour buses that are allowed to operate in the country every year, adding that a fund should be created to help replace old tour buses.

The new transportation regulation, which took effect in February, restricts the operation of older tour buses to areas where they are registered.

Moreover, old buses cannot operate on road sections located at 500m above sea level or roads with inclinations exceeding 10 percent.

The speed limit for the older tour buses on national freeways, meanwhile, has been set at 90kph.

The Directorate General of Highways (DGH) is authorized to determine road sections perceived to be dangerous for tour buses to operate on.

The regulation has upset some operators, who argued that some of these older buses still function perfectly.

The new transportation regulation was stipulated after an accident in the Meiling (梅嶺) Scenic Area, Tainan County, last year, that killed 22 passengers and injured 23.

In response, DGH director general James Chen (陳晉源) said the directorate had canvassed the road sections located 500m above sea level and roads with inclinations exceeding 10 percent.

The findings showed that a total of 64 road sections across the country matched those criteria, with a majority of them leading to well-known scenic areas.

He said the accident rate, along with other factors, should be used to determine whether a certain section is fit for tour buses.

As the directorate has yet to promulgate the list of road sections, a decision by the legislature to suspend the execution could be problematic, he said.

The directorate has only made public road sections that are perceived to pose a danger to tour buses.

He said the directorate would invite service operators and other relevant organizations on Monday to discuss the speed limit for tour buses on national freeways and management of tour buses that have been in service for more than 12 years.

The proposal to impose a cap on the number of tour buses on the market is now being studied by the ministry's Institute of Transportation, he said.
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