The utilization rate of public transportation in Kaohsiung City reached 80 percent of capacity during the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Games, the city’s Transportation Bureau said yesterday.
In a press release, the bureau said the utilization rate of the city’s MRT system rose 27 percent, while that of buses surged 74 percent between July 16 and July 26.
The city government offered free bus rides during the 11 days of the Games.
An average of about 132,600 people take the MRT per day, while 71,500 take the bus, the bureau said. During the Games, the number of MRT passengers rose to about 167,800 per day, while bus passengers increased to 124,700.
Meanwhile, about 83 percent of respondents in a Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) survey said they were satisfied with the city’s year-old MRT system.
The results of the poll, conducted by National Cheng Kung University’s Research and Development Foundation, were released to mark the first anniversary of the city’s two MRT lines.
About 650 respondents participated in the survey.
In related developments, the city’s Public Works Bureau said the nation’s first oceanic culture and pop music center was scheduled for completion in 2015.
The Council for Economic Planning and Development on Monday approved the city’s proposal to build the center between piers 11 and 15 at Kaohsiung Harbor.
The project is expected to cost NT$5.5 billion (US$168.2 million).
“With the experience of building the World Games main stadium, we are confident that the [pop music] venue will become a landmark of southern Taiwan,” Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Lee Yung-te (李永得) said.
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