The Ministry of Transportation and Communications has pushed for the government’s plans to promote public transport and attract international travelers to Taiwan to be included in a special law for post-pandemic economic recovery, which was passed into law on Tuesday last week.
The ministry called for a three-year budget of NT$20 billion (US$656 million), with a focus on promoting monthly tickets in three regions of Taiwan: The first includes Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan; the second includes Taichung, Changhua County and Nantou County; and the third is for Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.
In the plan to promote public transport, monthly tickets would separate those for commuting to school or college and those for commuting to work. The plan expects local authorities within each region to jointly issue monthly tickets for public transport. It is reported that monthly tickets for the Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan region would cost NT$1,200, while those for the other two regions would cost less than NT$1,000.
A detailed plan for the Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan region is likely to be announced at the end of this month.
It would initially include the Taipei and Taoyuan metro systems — which covers stations serving Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport — as well as buses and light rail, with the intention of adding highway and freeway buses.
Taiwan Railways trains are expected to be added after the ticket system has been initiated. Passengers with the monthly pass would then be entitled to unlimited travel on all modes of transport within the region.
It is quite reasonable for monthly tickets in the other two regions to be cheaper than NT$1,000. They should not cost more than tickets in the northern region, otherwise commuters in central and southern Taiwan could feel exploited.
In its plans for monthly tickets in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, the government should not only include MRT, light rail, local buses and coaches, it should also include transfer journeys via the Taiwan Railways network.
As the Kaohsiung MRT does not extend to Pingtung or Tainan, most commuters in the southern region use Taiwan Railways trains as their main mode of transport, so it is important that those trains are included in the monthly travel passes.
Although the Taiwan Railways Administration has said it would proceed as quickly as possible with the ministry’s plans, the government must pay attention to the needs of southern commuters by ensuring that Taiwan Railways services are included in the monthly tickets. It is also important that the unlimited tickets in central and southern Taiwan are cheaper than tickets in the northern region.
Myers Su is a political commentator.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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