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Experts expect problems to beset Kaohsiung MRT

With the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System (KMRT) due to start selling tickets next Monday, experts are warning that teething problems may occur because the system's trial period did not include ticket sale simulations.

Chang Shyue-koong (張學孔), chairman of an association for the development of public transportation and a professor in the Department of Transportation Engineering at National Taiwan University, gave the KMRT facilities top marks, but said the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) had missed a trick by not simulating ticket sales during the trial period.

By allowing passengers to move freely in and out of stations and to travel on the trains without any restrictions, the KRTC had missed out on a great opportunity to understand typical commuter behavior, he said. This could result in problems once ticket sales begin, Chang said.

He said connecting buses and a lack of smart card integration were other potential problems.

Cheng Yu-che (鄭羽哲), a railroad expert, said it was "dangerous" that the KMRT had neglected to follow the examples of the Taipei MRT and the Taiwan High Speed Rail.

Chang and Cheng said that while the Taipei MRT had sold only one kind of ticket during its initial period of operation, the KMRT will sell three from the outset -- a single journey ticket, a one-day pass and a stored-value card. They said the fact that commuters would have to pass through different gates depending on the type of ticket they had purchased could lead to trouble.

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation spokesman Ted Chia (賈先德) said that his company's simulations had allowed it to train personnel and improve ticket sales and passenger flow facilities.

KRTC public relations manager Chiang Hui-sung (江惠頌) said the system's free trial period, which began on March 9 and ends on Sunday, will be followed by a three-month period of discounted travel. Chiang said this would allow for problems to be identified and addressed.

Wang Kuo-tsai (王國財), director of the Kaohsiung City Government's traffic bureau, said it would have been better to have conducted full simulations.

He said officials had feared that commuters may not have been willing to participate in the trial period if they had to use tickets, even without paying for them.

Statistics released by the KRTC show that 5 million trips had been taken on the KMRT as of yesterday afternoon.

A total of 388,000 passengers rode the KMRT on Saturday, the KRTC said, adding that, since the opening of the Red Line, a daily average of between 160,000 and 200,000 passengers had used the system on week days. The daily average on holidays was 420,000 passengers, the KRTC said.

Additional reporting by CNA
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