The Taipei Public Transportation Office is reviewing two proposals that would raise bus fares by charging passengers based on distance traveled.
Office section chief Huang Yu-chia (黃于嘉) said one option being considered would charge passengers a basic fare of NT$16 for the first 8.5km and NT$1 for each additional kilometer.
Citing statistics compiled by the office, Huang said 82.2 percent of Taipei commuters travel less than 8km by bus, which means less than 20 percent of passengers would have to pay more than NT$16 when they take the bus.
Another option being reviewed would set the starting fare at NT$11, with an additional NT$2 being charged for each kilometer traveled, Huang said.
Both options would register the distance traveled by passengers when they make transit stops, and resume tolling after they transfer to another bus route, Huang said, adding that the continuous tolling scheme would apply to commuters making transfers within 30 minutes.
Huang said that the successful integration of EasyCard and GPS readers are crucial for either system to go into effect.
Both options would require commuters to swipe their cards twice — when they get on and off a bus.
Implementation of the new tolling system has been pushed back from the third quarter of next year to 2018, Huang said.
He added that a NT$1 bus fare increase would be implemented in Taipei and New Taipei City in spite of New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) cautioning against such a move when he met with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) last month.
Chu urged the Taipei City Government to be prudent over implementing a fare hike considering its effect on long-distance transportation costs and given falling global crude oil prices.
As the Taipei City Council has approved the fare increase, implementing it would only be a matter of time, Huang said.
At its most recent session, the Taipei City Council bundled the fare hike with a proposal by the city’s bus drivers’ union that drivers be granted a NT$2,500 increase in monthly salaries.
The council resolved that a fare hike would be implemented on the condition that bus operators also raise drivers’ wages.
Huang said that a fare increase would cut the subsidies Taipei gives bus operators to cover a gap between the actual transportation cost per ride, NT$18, and the bus fare, NT$15.
The planned fare hike has had a mixed reception among Taipei councilors.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) blasted the plan, saying that with diesel prices having plummeted from NT$26 to NT$16 per liter, bus operators should pay for the increase in drivers’ wages on their own.
The city government’s decision to raise bus fares amounts to profiteering on behalf of bus operators while robbing the public, Wang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor William Hsu (徐弘庭) said that bus operators are facing challenging times, including difficulty hiring drivers because of competition from tour bus operators.
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