The National Freeway Bureau’s (NFB) decision to raise the speed limit inside the Hsuehshan Tunnel (雪山隧道) has reportedly had some success in easing traffic congestion on Freeway No. 5, with the bureau reporting yesterday that the decision had helped increase the average driving speed by between 3kph and 6kph in both the northbound and southbound lanes.
Kang Jhy-fu (康志福), director of the bureau’s traffic management department, said the decision had also been proven effective in raising the freeway’s capacity during high-volume hours.
The average traffic volume between 1pm and 8pm on Sunday, when many people are returning home, has risen from 2,343 motorized vehicles per hour to 2,479 per hour, a 5.8 percent increase, he said.
To ease congestion on Freeway No. 5 during holidays, the bureau raised the speed limit for vehicles driving inside Hsuehshan Tunnel — the longest tunnel on the freeway — from 80kph to 90kph, a decision that went into effect on Nov. 1.
However, when the bureau first made the announcement earlier this year, some people expressed concern that the decision would increase the risks of accidents on the freeway.
Statistics from the bureau show the new policy drastically reduced the number of speeding violations from 152 in October to 58 last month.
However, after the new policy came into force, the bureau found that more motorists swerved between lanes and failed to keeping a safe driving distance between vehicles.
The bureau kept the speed limit inside the tunnel at 70kph when the tunnel was first opened to traffic in 2006 because of fire safety concerns. That policy sparked complaints from motorists, forcing the bureau to raise the speed limit to 80kph in 2008.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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