The Taipei City Government called on the public to take advantage of its free shuttle bus service to visit ancestral tombs on the last day of the Tomb Sweeping Festival today.
The Taipei City Public Transportation Office offered free shuttle buses on five major routes to public cemeteries in Muzha (木柵), Nangang (南港), Chongde (崇德), Yangmingshan and the Military Cemetery. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) inspected the traffic situation at the city’s Fude Public Cemetery (富德公墓) in Muzha yesterday morning and said he was satisfied to see smooth traffic as most people took the transit buses.
“I didn’t hear any complaints about the traffic in Muzha because the frequent bus service helped prevent traffic congestion,” Hau said at the MRT Taipei Zoo Station after the inspection yesterday.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
A large number of people were expected to visit their ancestral tombs today, so the public should utilize public transport to avoid getting stuck in traffic, Hau said.
Taipei City Police Department Traffic Division Director Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧) said traffic to the Fude Public Cemetery was smooth.
Crowds of tomb-sweepers on their way to the First Public Cemetery snarled traffic in Yangmingshan, especially along Xingyi Road.
Fang urged those heading to the cemetery in Yangmingshan today to take public transportation to avoid heavy traffic.
The shuttle bus service is being provided by the Capital Bus Co and ran with a frequency of about one bus every minute. The company also prepared free tools such as sickles and gloves for residents and a temporary babysitting area at the cemeteries for people’s convenience, said Lee Chien-wen (李建文), general manager of the company.
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