Freeway tolls will be waived from 12am to 7am from Feb. 9 through Feb. 17 to facilitate traffic flow during the Lunar New Year holiday, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
The measure was announced at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, where Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) and other ministry officials briefed lawmakers on traffic plans for the nine-day holiday next month.
National Freeway Bureau Director-General Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said the bureau estimated it would take drivers about six hours to travel from Taipei to Greater Kaohsiung if they take the freeways.
The heaviest traffic would likely occur on Feb. 12, the fourth day of the holiday, he said.
Tseng said that the bureau would also implement a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) policy at the beginning and the end of the holiday.
On Freeway No. 5, Tseng said that the HOV would mainly be enforced on the northbound lanes. The bureau would also open up some shoulders on freeways and activate the meters on the ramps or feeder roads to help ease the traffic, he said.
The exact details of HOV policy and other measures would be announced once they had been finalized, Tseng said.
To encourage more travelers to use public transportation and reduce traffic on Freeway No. 5, freeway bus operators will increase bus services between Taipei and Yilan during the holiday. On average, one bus will be dispatched every one to two minutes during peak hours, the bureau said.
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) will ncrease their services during the nation’s most important holiday.
With the addition of its new tilting train, the “Puyuma Express,” the TRA said it would add a total of 604 train runs during the holiday, including 401 heading to the east coast and 203 operating along the west coast. The TRA will also add six trips to the schedule between Taipei and Hualien during peak hours.
Passengers headed to the east coast will be able to start booking tickets on Jan. 22, while those heading south can reserve tickets starting on Jan. 23.
As reserved seats on trains from Hualien to Taipei are expected to be in high demand on the final day of the holiday, Mao said that the ministry would carefully monitor the situation at the Hualien Train Station.
“Our principle is that no passenger will be left at the station,” Mao said.
THSRC said that it would add 333 train runs to its schedule. However, it suspended early-bird package offers for the holiday period and would continue to have cabins with unreserved seats.
High-speed rail tickets for the holiday will go on sale on Friday next week.
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
RSS