With the presidential election approaching, the controversial Suhua Freeway project on Tuesday received a conditional go-ahead from the Environmental Protection Administration (環保署). The Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau (台灣區國道新建工程局) has said that the project, which could top NT$100 billion (US$3.25 billion), will commence this year. But there is still no clear indication that this would put an end to seven years of conflict or whether the project could proceed and be completed smoothly.
A government report last year stated that construction of the Suhua Freeway could have grave consequences, including increased pollution and carbon emissions, destruction of ecologically sensitive areas along the road corridor and interchanges, and groundwater inundation of tunnels that could lead to groundwater depletion.
These are worthy considerations. However, for the past six months, the existing road between Suao and Hualien has been closed every time it rained, with water accumulating along some sections of the railway's Northern Line, cutting off all access from the east coast to the rest of the country. Claims that the Suhua Freeway is not feasible have therefore been met by residents in Hualien and eastern Taiwan with the question: "What about us?"
Political bickering and election maneuvering have all but snuffed out rational discussion about the vision for sustainable development of eastern Taiwan. For years, the administration has touted catch phrases such as creating an "ocean state," "sustainable environment," "love and care for our native land" and "blue highways." Yet a close look at the administration's "Second-Term Plan for National Development in the New Century" would show that the plan overlooks two vital facts: first, there is the Central Mountain Range running from north to south that makes transportation between the eastern and western parts of the island difficult; and second, Taiwan has a marine transportation infrastructure in place, including shipping lines and harbors, that could complement its inland transportation system.
Without doubt, a sound transportation system is key to balancing development throughout the country. Although inland and air transportation has long been saturated, sea transport in Taiwan -- a maritime state by virtue of its geographical location -- is either never mentioned or only in association with meaningless phrases such as "the blue highway." As the authorities rarely promote sea transportation, the public has overlooked the fact that there is a maritime highway waiting to be put to good use.
From a global perspective, when transportation systems in coastal development areas reach the point of saturation, ferries are naturally considered a new means of transportation. This is a pragmatic solution when highways, bridges and tunnels are frequently congested and inland transportation needs to be expanded but faces financial, social and political restrictions -- as is the case with the Suhua Freeway.
Unlike building highways, it would be quite easy to achieve results by establishing ferry services in areas like eastern and northern Taiwan and to expand these services as demand increases. Ferry systems are much more flexible than fixed transportation systems on land as operators can gradually increase or adjust routes according to demand. This eliminates the need to expand land-based infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels.
Ships can also be custom built to meet capacity and function demands. Even transferring only a small portion of the freight or passenger transport to the waterways would lead to immediate benefits. Aside from decreasing land traffic volume, it would also reduce road wear and tear.
Sea transportation would not only directly benefit the public, but traffic authorities at the local and national government level could also save on resources and put them to more flexible use. Moreover, sea transportation of bulk materials for short distances is more energy and cost-efficient, making it a good alternative when natural disasters cause roads to break down.
The biggest difference between waterways, railways and freeways is sea transportation doesn't require any hefty investment in road infrastructure. For example, the European Commission has been pushing for the integration of marine highways for the past two decades, and it recently invested several hundred million euros in a multi-stage project devoted to providing incentives to bring freight transport from crowded roads to the sea.
In addition, ferries widely used for short-distance transportation -- 500km and below -- and passenger ships used for fast-growing tourist cruises would be very suitable for coastal transportation in Taiwan. High-speed ferries, which have been used in Europe for years, could greatly decrease travel time and provide comfortable transportation.
Ferries traveling between eastern and western Taiwan could transport large numbers of passengers and could even become a new mass transport system. Just like many other mass transportation systems, most ferry lines overseas -- both publicly and privately owned -- receive government subsidies. The main challenge for this type of transportation is providing quality services, while at the same time offering the features of mass transit systems: convenience, safety, low fares and sufficient traffic.
Rather than arguing endlessly about the Suhua Freeway, the government should draw up new plans for other routes that can be used along the east coast. Using accompanying measures such as fuel subsidies for fishermen and the Offshore Islands Development Law (離島建設條例) to encourage investment in sea transportation could be one way to offer east coast residents an acceptable number of benefits.
Hua Jian is an associate professor in the Department of Marine Engineering at Taiwan Ocean University.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
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