Kaohsiung City Government officials said the city would replace 2,000 bus stop signs with bilingual ones and install more LED displays along the Kaohsiung metro system as part of its preparations for the 2009 World Games this July.
Speaking at the inauguration of 81 full-color LED panels at the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system’s Red Line stations on Thursday, director of the city’s Transportation Bureau, Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材), said the new devices would provide passengers with real-time travel information.
Another 35 LED panels will be installed at Orange Line stations before the World Games open, he said.
Wang said the panels, which display both Chinese and English messages, were designed to quickly familiarize the large numbers of foreign tourists who are expected to visit the city during the Games with the public transport system.
The bureau already receives an average of 10,000 phone calls per day for bus information, he said. He said he hoped the bilingual signage would encourage more foreign tourists to visit Kaohsiung during the Games.
Each LED display panel costs NT$100,000, while installing 2,000 bilingual bus stop signs would cost NT$3 million, bureau official Chang Su-chuan (張淑娟) said.
The city government is also offering English language courses for bus and taxi drivers to help them communicate with foreign tourists and help answer questions the visitors might have.
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