The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) did not take sufficient action to prevent traffic congestion on freeways on the first days of the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend.
The criticism came after drivers, especially those on the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5), experienced heavy congestion on Thursday, the first day of the four-day holiday.
Some complained that it took four hours to drive from New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) to Yilan County.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times
The KMT said that traffic diversion measures are obviously lacking, but Lin showed an arrogant attitude in responding to the issue.
He did nothing more than urge drivers to be “smarter” and not be “part of the congestion” by avoiding roads during peak hours, the KMT said.
Lin is shifting responsibility to members of the public, making him “the most irresponsible transportation minister ever,” it said.
Traffic conditions tomorrow, the last day of the holiday and when many people will be returning home, must improve, the KMT said.
Many transportation experts have proposed solutions to the congestion and Lin should review the proposals and update his strategy, it said.
KMT Legislator Lu Ming-che (魯明哲), a member of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee, yesterday said that the congestion on Freeway No. 5 happened because the number of cars had obviously exceeded the road’s capacity, after people finally had an opportunity to visit family or travel without having to worry too much about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ministry could have predicted the number of tourists driving to each place by analyzing hotel bookings and making corresponding responses to divert crowds, Lu said.
The data is available from the Tourism Bureau, which belongs to the ministry, Lu added.
New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), also a member of the committee, said that although the ministry’s transportation app marks congested sections of roads, users must locate the information within the app.
The ministry should implement more “proactive measures” to reduce congestion, such as traffic controls and provide people with possible solutions to traffic problems, as opposed to simply asking them to “avoid congested areas,” Chiu said.
Lin yesterday said that although it is easy to blame the government for a traffic jam, the problem can only be solved if drivers cooperate.
Traffic volume on Freeway No. 5 during extended holidays is usually twice what it can handle, so the ministry reminded the public to keep abreast of the latest traffic conditions and be “smart” freeway users to avoid congestion, Lin said, adding that he would change the way he speaks to avoid upsetting anyone.
Additional reporting by Cheng Wei-chi
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS