The Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau announced yesterday that it would enforce the policy of only allowing vehicles carrying three or more people on certain sections of the nation's freeways during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The bureau also urged drivers to plan their journeys carefully before setting out.
Southbound vehicles will be subject to passenger controls from 6am to 12pm next Saturday. The sections to which the policy applies are: from Neihu to the Changhua Interchange on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (National Freeway No. 1), from Muzha to the Hsiangshan Interchange on the Formosa Freeway (National Freeway No. 3), and from Nangang to the Pinglin (坪林) Interchange on the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway (National Freeway No. 5).
On Feb. 23 and Feb. 24, from 6am to 1pm, vehicles traveling north from Kaohsiung to the Neili (內壢) Interchange on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway, and from Jiouru (九如) to the Tahsi (大溪) Interchange on the Formosa Freeway, will also be required to observe the rule. Northbound vehicles on the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway are required to comply with the regulation from 1pm to 5pm.
Drivers of fuel trucks, postal delivery vehicles and government-owned garbage trucks, as well as handicapped drivers, will be exempt from the regulations.
From Feb. 17 to Feb. 25, motorists will be allowed to drive on the Sun Yat-sen, Formosa and Chiang Wei-shui freeways from midnight to 6am without paying tolls.
The shoulders along the road between Neili and Jhongli, both northbound and southbound, and the southbound section between Tahsi and Lungtan (
Meanwhile, in a further bid to ease traffic congestion over the holidays, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp announced yesterday that passengers bound for Banciao station on Feb. 14 and March 1 would be able to disembark at Taipei station without paying extra.
The Taipei stations will not officially go into operation until March 2, the corporation said, adding that tickets to and from Taipei after March 2 would be available from Feb. 17.
Additional reporting by Jessie Ho
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