The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday reported a 39 percent increase in total traffic flow across the nation during the Lunar New Year holidays — to at 18.5 million vehicles — compared with normal annual traffic figures of 13 million.
Traffic flow on the third day of the holidays, from 9pm on Friday night to 7am yesterday, saw a total of 740,000 cars using highways, more than double the average annual rate of 340,000.
The total traffic flow for Friday stood at 2.6 million, 57 percent more than the annual average of 1.7 million.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
During the peak travel hours on Friday, driving from Taipei to Greater Kaohiung on National Highway No. 1 (the Sun Yat-sen Freeway) took 4.4 hours. Driving northbound during that time took 3.9 hours.
Through noon yesterday, bottlenecks were reported at the Hukou (湖口) to Jhubei (竹北) exits and Yutien Village (玉田) to Yanpu Village (鹽埔) exits in Pingtung County in the southbound lanes of National Highway No. 1.
Traffic was also slow on the Dingjin system in Greater Kaohsiung’s Renwu District (仁武) and surrounding areas, and Nangang District (南港) to Pinglin District (坪林) exits on southbound National Highway No. 5 (Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway), the ministry said.
The Lungjing Township (龍井) exit in Greater Taichung and Homei Township (和美) in Changhua County along the southbound lanes of National Highway No. 3 (Formosa Freeway), and the northbound lanes between the Muzha District (木柵) and Nangang District (南港) were also congested, it said.
The average speed for those exits was between 30kph and 50kph, the ministry said.
It estimated yesterday afternoon’s bottlenecks to be the exits for Nantun District (南屯) to Daya District (大雅) in Greater Taichung and the Hsinchu City to Jhubei Township exits on northbound National High No. 1, the northbound exits for Longtan Township (龍潭) to Dasi (大溪), the Hsinchu City to Jhulin Tonwhsip (竹林) and Yunlin County to Siluo Township (西螺) sections on National Highway No. 3, and the Toucheng Township (頭城) to Pinglin on southbound National Highway No. 5.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Railways Administration said the derailment of a train between Nantoun County’s Jiji Township (集集) and Shueili Township (水里) had been fixed by noon.
There were no injuries or deaths in the derailment and the 20 passengers aboard the train at the time of the accident were able to board another train, the agency said.
The accident affected the schedules of nine trains, carrying a total of 570 passengers, from the time of derailment to the line being reopened, the railway adeministration said, adding that it had enlisted the help of Yuanlin Bus Co to transport 550 other passengers to their destinations.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all