Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) could see serious traffic congestion when a bus station next to MRT Taipei City Hall Station opens in July, a city official said.
The bus station, which is located at the intersection of Keelung Road and Zhongxiao E Road, could have more than 250 buses entering or exiting the terminal during rush hour, increasing traffic on the district’s already busy streets.
Taipei City Government’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Luo Shiaw-shyan (羅孝賢) acknowledged that the opening of the bus station would cause traffic congestion in the area and Luo has proposed several measures to tackle the problem.
The department opened Lane 20, Sect 5 of Zhongxiao E Road to two-way traffic last week to ease congestion and it will adjust the route of several buses that pass the intersection of Keelung Road and Zhongxiao E Road.
Kuo Tsung-sheng (郭宗生), a division chief at the department, said the bus station will serve as a transportation hub for commuter buses running to Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Yilan.
“This bus station is smaller than the one at Taipei Main Station, with fewer buses traveling shorter distances, and so it should have less impact on the traffic,” Kuo said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chen Yu-mei (陳玉梅), however, said the city government failed to learn its lesson from when the Taipei Bus Station near Taipei Main Station was opened, as the bus station in Xinyi suffers from the same problems of a lack of space and inconvenient location.
Taipei Bus Station, located at the intersection of Chengde Road and Huayin Street, opened in August last year amid concerns about the heavy traffic congestion it created. Councilors also accused the city government of allowing the operator to make excess profits, as the bus terminal and waiting area only occupied 9.4 percent of the 24-story building, which features a shopping mall, movie theater and hotel.
The new bus station in Xinyi District is similar, with the bus terminal and waiting area occupying just 2,400 ping (7,934m²) of the 43,000 ping building. The 31-story building also features a shopping mall and hotel.
“The city government is compromising to big business again. Most of the space is not used for transportation and transit services. The same problems, including heavy traffic jams and insufficient room for passengers, will happen again,” she said.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the