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.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS