As many as 210,000 people packed the stations of the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system's Red Line following its official opening on Sunday afternoon.
Non-Kaohsiung residents might find it difficult to understand why witnessing the launch of the MRT line on Sunday was such a spine-tingling experience for local residents.
For people in the nation's second-biggest city, the concept of "public transportation" never really meant much.
PHOTO: FLORA WANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The city has some 400 buses running on 92 routes and limited coaches providing service to passengers traveling to the townships of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties.
However, using the bus system has always been a painful experience for people in Kaohsiung, with many saying it is an inefficient and inconvenient way to get around.
"In the past, we usually had to wait at the bus stop for more than 30 minutes before a bus came," said Ivy Lee (
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee's experience is shared by many.
Even following years of efforts by the city government to improve the bus system, it still takes about 90 minutes to travel from the southern part of the city -- Kaohsiung International Airport, for example -- to Nanzih (
But the MRT north-south Red Line is about to change all that.
During a tour of the Red Line for the media on Friday, Vivian Wu (吳孟嬪), junior administrator of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp's (KRTC) Public Affairs Department's Media Communication Section, said that traveling from one end of the Red Line to the other -- from Xiaogang (小港) to Chiaotou (橋頭) in Kaohsiung County (the Gangshan [岡山] South Station, the last stop in the north end, is still under construction) -- takes about 45 minutes.
After a six-year-and-four-month wait, Kaohsiung residents' dream of an efficient public transport system has finally come true.
The Red Line is the nation's first rapid transit route to provide a direct link to an international airport, a major Taiwan Railway station, a high speed rail station and a ferry station.
The construction of the entire system, including the Red Line and the east-to-west Orange Line, began on Oct. 24, 2001.
The NT$181.5 billion (US$5.9 billion) system was scheduled to begin operation on Oct. 20 last year, but several cave-ins during construction of the Orange Line delayed progress.
The maiden voyage, spanning seven stops on the northern part of the Red Line, was held during the Lunar New Year holiday.
As Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) told journalists from Taipei on Thursday, the free Lunar New Year ride attracted 400,000 people over four days.
Kaohsiung residents were also treated to the system's unique and ingenious fusion of art and public transport for the first time over the weekend following the illumination of the world's largest public glass art work -- the Dome of Light -- at the Formosa Boulevard Station on Friday.
"We hope the experience of the artwork at KRTC stations is something passengers will take home with them," Chiu said, adding that this was the main difference between the rapid transit systems in Taipei and Kaohsiung.
Indeed, art, or more specifically glass arkwork created by renowned international artists such as Italian maestro Narcissus Quagliata -- the creator of the dome -- and German-born artist Lutz Haufschild are the additional highlights of a tour of the transit route.
Passengers arriving at the city by air will immediately be taken by the world's largest 3D glass sculpture -- the Emerald Laminata -- created by Haufschild on the walls at the Kaohsiung International Airport Station.
Unlike artifacts in a museum, the artwork is easily accessible and touchable.
"In society, most of the things are for utility, for being used. The use of art is to teach people
how to enjoy their life," Quagliata told the Taipei Times.
"Kaohsiung is undergoing a major transformation from an industrial city to a city focusing on recreation and culture," Chiu said.
That transformation, however, is expected to take years because the inefficient bus transport system has created a unique commuting culture in Kaohsiung.
Statistics from the city's Bureau of Transportation showed that the utility rate of the city's public transportation system has been stable at 5 percent over the past several decades.
The city, with a population of 1.5 million people, has the largest number of registered scooters in Taiwan -- about 1.2 million.
"Scooters are very convenient for getting around downtown. It may be faster and more comfortable to ride on the MRT, but I have become accustomed to getting around by scooter. I can also go many places that the MRT does not go to," Lee said.
Wang E-cheng (
"To me, the MRT is more like a convenient means of transportation for people visiting Kaohsiung," Wang said.
Chiu acknowledged the difficulty in changing people's perception of public transportation.
"We must provide residents with incentives [to take the rapid transit system] to change their lifestyle," Chiu said, adding that the city government has launched shuttle buses services to and from the MRT stations.
He told the Taipei Times that the city government was also considering reducing the number of scooters on the roads by clamping down on illegal parking and on scooters that cause too much pollution.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS