The Taipei City Government will revise river dredging plans, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
“Even though funding might be the same, dredging plans will change to focus on allowing boats to enter and exit docks,” Ko said, adding that previous dredging of the river channel had not had any effect.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) yesterday reported that the city government had spent NT$250 million (US$8.09 million) over the past 10 years on river dredging as part of plans to promote tourism through boat rides on the Tamsui River (淡水河), which courses through the Taipei Basin.
More than 80,000 people took the river tours last year, according to Department of Transportation figures.
Chen Juin-hong (陳俊宏), section head of the department’s general transportation section, said that even the river tour line’s small boats have to carefully coordinate departure times with tides to avoid being stranded.
He denied a media report that more than 60 percent of river line passengers were schoolchildren on field trips, saying that while the city government covers the tickets of schoolchildren, they make up only 6 percent of passengers.
He added that while the business of the private line operators licensed by the city was “poor,” the city government did not require them to report profit figures.
Chen said the city government has already approved a new river tour route along the city’s Keelung River (基隆河) between the Xikou (錫口) and Guandu (關渡) docks. Operation is scheduled to begin by the end of the year pending city approval of the boat being constructed by the line’s operator, he said.
Hydraulic Engineering Office Director Chen Shyh-haw (陳世浩) said his office had not attempted to make the Tamsui River passable at all times due to the prohibitive cost that would entail and that he would review dredging operations following Ko’s directive.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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