The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) has operated at a loss every year since it opened in 1996, but could balance its books with an average fare hike of just NT$0.5 (US$0.02), a Taipei Rapid Transit Corp representative said.
The Taipei MRT has failed to generate a profit, despite increasing passenger numbers, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp planning division director Wu Chun-yo (吳俊佑) said.
“That branch of the corporation loses money every year, it is just a matter of by how much,” he said.
In bad years the MRT runs up a deficit of between NT$700 million and NT$800 million, he said.
However, the company last year posted a NT$300 million deficit, the lowest in its history, because it took steps to boost passenger numbers on weekends, Wu said.
“We rolled out single-day passes for families and groups, and deals were struck with Taipei 101 and businesses in the Yongkang Road (永康) area to give gifts to tourists using the single-day pass,” Wu said. “Those measures have increased ridership and therefore fare revenue.”
“After [Taipei] Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) took office, he demanded that the operational efficiency of the MRT be maximized to offset losses in transit operations,” he said.
The MRT last year branched out its business operations, including initiatives to rent office space at its stations, Wu said.
Rent from office space generated revenue of NT$68 million and rent from online vendor Catch Power Co’s merchandize retrieval boxes — located in 108 MRT stations — generated another NT$15 million, he said.
The expansion of commercial space in MRT stations was followed by an increase in the number of visitors, resulting in greater opportunities for paid advertisement, Wu said.
Business operations peripheral to urban transit has more than made up for the deficit that transit operations have incurred, with the company’s bottom line having risen from NT$500 million in 2015 to NT$1.5 billion last year, he said.
“When the then-Muzha (木柵) Line opened in 1996 it was the MRT’s only service and it had a daily ridership of 30,000 people. Now the urban transit network has a daily ridership of 2.03 million,” Wu said.
“The chronic deficit in the transit arm is caused by the need to set aside funds every year in anticipation of buying new carriages,” he said.
“The Taipei MRT services also differ significantly from those in New Taipei City in terms of profitability, with most of the revenue-generating lines in Taipei passing through places where businesses sustain traffic,” he said.
In contrast, New Taipei City lines tend to make less money or operate at a loss, such as the Blue Line section that goes to Tucheng District (土城), Wu said.
Total ridership in the Taipei MRT was 730 million last year, Wu said, adding that a small increase in minimum fares — from NT$23 to a hypothetical NT$23.5 — would be sufficient for the transit arm to turn a profit.
However, the Taipei City Government has no plans to hike ticket prices in the short term due to policy concerns, Wu said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS