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Taipei bus service may turn private

"Over the next two years, we will continue to downsize our staff and gradually turn [the public run] bus lines over to private companies."

Liang Heng-teh, Taipei City Bus Administration's deputy director

Taipei city's public bus service may transform itself into a private enterprise by the end of 2003, an official with the Taipei City Bus Administration (TCBA, 台北市公車處) said yesterday.

"Over the next two years, we will continue to downsize our staff and gradually turn [the public run] bus lines over to private companies," said Liang Heng-teh (梁恆德), the TCBA's deputy director.

To improve its financial status, the bus administration is planning to auction off 45 of its 83 lines to private firms, Liang said.

Liang's remarks were made after city councilors Chen Cheng-chung (陳政忠), Wang Hao (王浩), Chiang Kai-shih (江蓋世), Li Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) and Chin Li-fang (秦儷舫), during a question-and-answer session yesterday at the Taipei City Council, called attention to the restructuring of the city's transportation services and the impact on the administration's 2,000 employees.

Running approximately 983 buses on 83 lines within the city, TCBA is facing financial difficulties, reporting NT$1.78 billion in losses during the first 10 months this year. It has incurred NT$10.86 billion in losses over the past five years, according to statistics released by the city's Bureau of Transportation (交通局).

Liang attributed the losses to rising personnel costs and lower productivity compared to private bus companies. "Ideally, we want to trim our manpower to about 1,200 with a fleet of about 600 buses," he said.

To help revamp the bus service, the city's transportation bureau queried Taipei Rapid Transit Corp on the possibility of integrating the administration with the rapid transit company. Their answer was no. "About 96 percent of Taipei Rapid Transit employees polled said they were against the idea," Liang said.

TCBA has sent two privatization proposals to the Taipei City Gov-ernment which has the final say.

"One is allowing city government and the Taipei Rapid Transport Corp to take up to a 49-percent stake in the new company, while another plan is to release all of the company's stakes for subscription by employees," Liang said.

The city government will make the final decision in March next year.
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