The National Freeway Bureau said it would consider adjusting the freeway toll-free hours and adopting a tiered toll scheme to manage traffic flows during Tomb Sweeping Day holidays.
The bureau was criticized following serious congestion on the nation’s freeways during the four-day holiday from April 4 to April 7.
Many have questioned why the bureau did not implement the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) policy during the holiday, which has in the past proven to be an effective way of regulating freeway traffic.
Bureau Director-General Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said on Thursday that the bureau had used the HOV policy to control freeway traffic during the Tomb Sweeping Day holidays in 1998 and in 2007.
He said freeway users had complained that the HOV policy had left them with little flexibility in arranging their homebound trips.
Cargo transportation associations also opposed enforcing the policy during the holiday because it disrupted their services, he said.
“To effectively enforce the HOV policy, the police force also needs to send personnel to the freeways, causeing a strain in the deployment of the personnel,” Tseng said.
Prior to the holiday, the bureau estimated that the number of vehicles on the first day of the holiday would be 1.45 million. The actual number topped 1.48 million.
“The traffic volume on the second and the third days of the Lunar New Year holiday this year topped 1.5 million, but freeway traffic flowed smoothly,” he said.
“Given the inconvenience that the HOV policy would bring to travelers, we decided not to implement it during the Tomb Sweeping holiday this year,” he added.
Tseng said freeway congestion on April 4 was caused by the convergence of traffic brought on by those planning to use the day for a family outing, adding that the heaviest traffic on that day occurred between 5am and 7am.
“Some families had already taken advantage of the toll-free hours on the weekend before the holiday to clean tombs, so they decided to use the day [April 4] for a family trip,” Tseng said.
“Others needed to meet up with family members in central and southern Taiwan before they went to sweep tombs. As both groups wanted to beat the traffic and take advantage of the toll-free hours, traffic started to become heavy early in the morning. By the time we activated the meter control on the ramps, congestion had already occurred on the freeways,” he said.
Tseng said the bureau would reconsider implementing the toll-free hours, and decide whether it would continue making 5am to 7am toll-free hours if the first day of the holiday coincides with Tomb Sweeping Day.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost