Three freeway service areas are to be outsourced to private contractors next year under a renovate-operate-transfer (ROT) model, the Freeway Bureau said yesterday, adding that it hopes that the new business model would bring in innovative and enhanced services for freeway users.
Contracts for five freeway service areas are scheduled to expire next year — Taoyuan’s Jhungli District (中壢), Hsinchu County’s Hukou (湖口) and Guansi (關西) townships, Taichung’s Taian Borough (泰安), as well as Tainan’s Rende District (仁德) — the bureau said, adding that the service areas are on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) and the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3).
The bureau is to start recruiting contractors next month to ensure a seamless transition of operations, bureau section chief Wu Chih-yung (吳志泳) said, adding that the business models of the service areas in Hukou, Taian and Rende are to be changed from an operate-transfer model to a the ROT model.
Facilities at these service areas are insufficient and service quality has declined significantly during peak times, Wu said, adding that the change to the business model is aimed at attracting private contractors interested in expanding, renovating and repairing the facilities.
“We also hope that they bring in innovative ideas,” Wu said.
The Hukou Service Area is run by Seaview World Enterprise Co, Wu said, adding that the service area in Taian is operated by Nan Ren Hu Entertainment Co and the service area in Rende is run by Uni-President Enterprise Corp.
All three firms are interested in continuing running the businesses, despite the change to the business model, Wu said.
The revenue of all service areas on freeways during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday last week is likely to surpass that of last year, the bureau said, adding that it is still compiling its data.
“Last year, the Tomb Sweeping Day break was a four-day holiday and Tomb Sweeping Day fell on the last day. This year, the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday was five days and Tomb Sweeping Day fell on the second day of the holiday, so it is possible that more people traveled after Tomb Sweeping Day,” bureau deputy director-general Wu Mu-fu (吳木富) said.
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