A plan to allow railway or intercity bus passengers to transfer to city buses free of charge in central and southern Taiwan has been shelved, in part due to local governments’ objection to being labeled as “heavily polluted” areas and bus companies’ inability to implement it on short notice.
In a bid to reduce air pollution, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that 14 bus operators are to offer discounts of 15 to 25 percent across 86 routes during the Lunar New Year period, which is to last from Feb. 14 to Feb. 20.
The measure was also implemented during last year’s Double Ten National Day holiday.
The ministry planned to expand the program by offering travelers free transfers to a city bus (limited to one section, or the first 8km, for routes with many sections) after taking the train or long-distance buses.
However, the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) on Thursday said that plan has been scrapped.
Public transport operators told the ministry at a meeting earlier in the week that it was too late to make changes as tickets sales for the Lunar New Year holiday are about to commence.
E-ticketing providers also told the ministry that they would not be able to revise their systems at short notice.
Moreover, local governments in central and southern Taiwan had questioned the program’s theme, saying they might be labeled as cities and counties that have greater air pollution problems, DGH transportation division chief Liu Yu-lin (劉育麟) said.
Such a label might spark a protest by local businesses and negatively affect local development, local governments said.
The DGH promised to enhance communication with transport operators and give them earlier notice next time.
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