Traffic safety would be the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ (MOTC) top priority this year, with a goal of reducing traffic accidents near university campuses by 12 percent, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said on Monday.
Briefing the legislature’s Transportation Committee about the ministry’s goals for the year, Hochen said 2,612 people died last year within 30 days of being involved in a traffic accident and the ministry wants to get that number down to 2,500 this year.
The nation has 13.76 million motorcycles, and deaths and injuries sustained in motorcycle accidents accounted for 70 percent of the total traffic-related deaths last year, he said.
Young people are at high risk, particularly those between 15 and 24 years old, and the ministry is considering working with the private sector to develop “smart” motorcycles, which would warn riders when approaching dangerous intersections, Hochen said.
The ministry would continue its efforts to get more people to use public transportation, and it aims to have city buses nationwide be electric vehicles by 2030, he said.
The ministry is to help develop air quality preservation zones and a high-pollution identification system and help install air quality detectors, he said.
If the legislature passes a proposed amendment to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣汙染防制法), vehicles that emit pollution would be restricted from entering air quality preservation zones.
The ministry also said it is considering opening the Suao-Dongao section of the Suhua Highway (Highway No. 9) for large passenger buses within three months.
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