Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
Hau told a meeting of city government officials that before he will consider charging motorists congestion fees, the city should have a fully operational mass rapid transit (MRT) system.
He said the city government could evaluate the feasibility of whether congestion charges should be introduced in Taipei once the city's MRT system is fully developed, four years from now.
Hau said that he would be willing to discuss the issue with central government officials provided they can help Taipei complete its MRT network sooner than planned with increased financial subsidies.
The mayor made the remarks after newspapers reported that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications was floating a proposal to begin a pilot program in Taipei by charging a NT$20 or NT$50 congestion fee for each car or motorcycle entering the city's eastern district.
The eastern district, where the Taipei city government and the Taipei World Trade Center's three exhibition halls are located, is the busiest and most congested area in Taipei.
In 2003, London began to charge each motorist ?5 (US$10) to enter a 20km2 area in the city center in an attempt to force commuters to switch to public transportation. The congestion fee was raised to ?8 in 2005.
In February this year, the congestion charging zone was extended to West London.
Although the London mayor claims that the congestion charging system has cut traffic jams in central London by 30 percent and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 20 percent, most retailers and restaurant owners in the city center have complained about a decrease in customer numbers and falling turnover.
London was not the first city to adopt congestion charging, is the largest city to have done so.
In 1975 Singapore became the first city to implement a cordon-based congestion pricing system. It switched to an automatic electronic road pricing system in 1998.
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