Up to 2.6 million motorists are expected to hit the nation’s freeways each day during the extended New Year’s weekend starting today, leading the National Freeway Bureau to implement traffic measures to cope with the spike in travelers.
Traffic levels today are expected to match those seen on the first day of most extended holidays, the bureau said yesterday.
Traffic volume could fall beginning tomorrow, when 2.3 million to 2.5 million cars are expected on the roads.
On Saturday, traffic volume could range from 2.2 million to 2.4 million cars, sliding to between 2 million and 2.2 million on Sunday.
Freeway travel will be free of charge between 11pm and 5am every day through Sunday to encourage drivers to make their trips during non-peak hours.
Tolls during daylight hours over the extended weekend are to be set at a flat rate of NT$0.9 per kilometer for the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 freeways — a 25 percent reduction from the regular rate.
However, the regular 20km grace distance of toll-free travel usually extended to motorists is to be suspended until Monday, the bureau said.
To get more drivers to use the less-frequented Freeway No. 3 and avoid congestion on other routes, the toll rate for the freeway between Hsinchu in the north and Yanchao (燕巢) in Kaohsiung in the south would be discounted by an additional 20 percent during the holiday, it said.
Meanwhile, regulations that allow only vehicles with at least three people including the driver on freeways are to be imposed on certain parts of the Freeway No. 5, which travels through the nation’s longest tunnel, linking Taipei to Yilan County.
The restriction will be in effect at southbound freeway entrances in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) and New Taipei City’s Shiding (石碇) and Pinglin (坪林) districts between 7am and noon today and tomorrow.
Northbound entrances in Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳), Luodong (羅東) and Toucheng (頭城) will have restrictions in effect between 3pm and 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.
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