Towing fees for vehicles that break down inside the Hsuehshan Tunnel would be increased by NT$1,500 (US$48.54) starting March next year, the National Freeway Bureau announced yesterday.
That would raise the towing fees for small cars to NT$3,000, vehicles weighing less than 8 tonnes to NT$5,700 and those weighing more than 8 tonnes to NT$6,750.
The new fees would only apply to motorists whose cars break down while driving inside the tunnel, and not those who get involved in a car accident, for which drivers would pay the current towing fee of NT$1,500, Freeway Bureau Deputy Director-General Wu Mu-fu (吳木富) said.
Photo: Sung Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
About 95 percent of the towed cars were due to breakdowns, which averaged about 1,100 cases per year, the bureau said.
Most of the breakdowns were due to negligence, because drivers did not inspect the vehicles before setting off, the bureau said.
Of the 1,131 cases of vehicle breakdowns in 2016, about 230 were caused by flat tires, while 200 were due to overheating engines, it said.
The remainder were due to drivers forgetting to fill the water in their radiators, fill up their gas tanks or charge their batteries, and other mechanical problems.
On average, towing a car from inside the tunnel takes about 23 minutes, Wu said.
However, the traffic congestion caused by a vehicle breakdown would take about 46 minutes to ease, he said.
The bureau has to budget NT$3 million (US$97,103) per year to pay tow truck companies to be on standby at both ends of the tunnel every day to quickly remove stalled vehicles, Wu said.
In other developments, Wu said that the bureau would soon unveil its plan to facilitate traffic during the New Year holiday from Dec. 29 to Jan. 1.
The plan still has to be approved by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, he said.
Experts at the Chinese Institute of Transportation have suggested that the bureau adopt several measures to facilitate freeway traffic on long weekends or the Lunar New Year holiday next year, including requiring vehicles to carry at least three passengers instead of two during high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) hours.
They also recommended canceling the 20km toll-free policy and implementing a uniform rate scheme for drivers traveling fewer than 50km per day during the major holidays, which they said would reduce the number of short-distance drivers accessing the freeways during this period.
The bureau could also consider closing several interchanges along the freeway to control freeway traffic, the experts said.
In response, Wu said that the bureau respects the opinions of experts, but it has other concerns when it comes to the implementation of some of the proposals.
First, raising the minimum number of passengers in a vehicle during HOV hours could encourage more drivers to access the freeways before HOV hours begin, he said.
The bureau has already canceled the 20km toll-free policy and used uniform rates for longer distances during major holidays, but it found that 30 percent of holiday freeway motorists drive less than 20km per day.
Whether there should be a special rate for these drivers to encourage them to take alternative routes needs further deliberation, he said.
Closing the entry to freeway interchanges would be the easiest and lowest cost means to facilitate holiday traffic, but the number of interchanges that needs to be closed would vary from holiday to holiday, he said, adding that the bureau does not rule out increasing the number of closed interchanges during major holidays.
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