The clash between the Taipei City Government and a Kaohsiung-based bus company over its refusal to move certain bus stops heated up yesterday when the company decided to sue the city's transportation department head for maladministration.
In an effort to solve constant traffic jams caused by shuttle and tourist buses stopping along Cheng-De Road, the city government aided 14 bus companies in the development of a transit center near the Taipei Railway Station.
Since the inauguration of the transit center in August, all of the bus companies, except for Aloha Bus Corp, relocated their transit stops to the new center.
The city government has written Aloha some 3,000 tickets resulting in NT$3 million in fines, but the company refuses to cooperate. Yesterday, the firm decided to sue the city's transportation department head Jason Lin (林志盈).
"Aloha is a legal bus company, but the transportation department and the Taipei police forced us to move, violating passengers' rights," Aloha Bus Corp Manager Ruan Fu-sheng (阮福生) said in front of the Taipei District Court yesterday.
Lin responded by saying that it was the city government's responsibility to improve traffic flow and enforce the law.
regulations
"The transit center was set up in accordance with transportation management regulations, which permit the city government to order bus companies, via their city government, to change bus routes or bus stops," he said.
The department issued such a request to Aloha in September via the Kaohsiung City Government because the company's headquarters is registered in that city, Lin said. The Kaohsiung City Government then issued a document to Aloha, ordering the company to "operate within the Taipei City Government's designated routes and bus stops."
"We don't know why the Kaohsiung City Government changed its tune two months later, saying that it never received any documents from us," Lin said.
denial
The Kaohsiung City Government recently denied that it had received any documents from the Taipei City Government with regard to the Aloha issue, adding that the Taipei City Government's transportation department had no authority over Kaohsiung-based bus companies.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Taipei city's Law and Regulation Commissioner Cheng Ching-hsiu (陳清秀) said the renewal of Aloha's operating license was required last November, and because the Ministry of Transportation's review committee did not process the company's request for a new license, the Kaohsiung City Government used an administrative order to allow the company to continue operating.
"But Aloha violated the Highway Act (
Lin said that the Taipei City Government will invite transportation ministry officials and Kaohsiung City Government representatives to discuss the issue in an effort to solve the problem by the end of the week.
But Aloha refuses to back down, saying that the Taipei City Government should have discussed the matter with the transportation ministry while also collecting input from Taipei residents before making the decision to set up the transit center.
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