Automated traffic lights that give priority to public transportation were put into operation on Sunday along Tainan’s green bus line, after the successful completion of a trial period.
Speaking at a news conference held to announce the launch the system, the Tainan City Government’s Bureau of Transportation director Chang Cheng-yuan (張政源) said that the lights are the nation’s first traffic management system that prioritizes public transportation on regular traffic lanes, as opposed to dedicated bus lanes.
The traffic lights that are installed on intersections along the the bus route between Tainan Railway Station and Sinhua District’s (新化) Sinhua Railway Station were built in the absence of a light railway or a rapid bus transport system in the city, Chang said.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
“The system is rare even globally,” he said.
During the trial period, the system shaved an average of five minutes off the time buses spent waiting at traffic lights during peak hours and three minutes during off-peak hours on each trip, which reduced the journey times by 10 percent, the bureau said.
COMMUTE-TIMES CUT
The system is expected to cut 6,705 hours per year from commutes, representing an estimated NT$14 million (US$427,116) in added productivity, and is to decrease carbon emissions by 24 tonnes per year, the bureau said.
Tainan Deputy Mayor Tseng Hsu-cheng (曾旭正) said that the system would increase the efficiency of public buses and encourage Tainan residents to use them more frequently, adding that the city plans to implement the system on other bus lines.
The system is to be installed on the city’s red line and green line next year, the bureau said, while the yellow, orange and brown lines are to receive the system in 2017, with a budget of NT$42 million.
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
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS