Mobile apps developed by the Freeway Bureau and the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) have been integrated into the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ plans to ease congestion on the Chiang Wei-Shui Freeway (Freeway No. 5) over the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ten National Day next month.
The ministry was criticized after heavy congestion on the freeway for 32 consecutive hours on the first two days of the Dragon Boat Festival in June.
With two long weekends next month — Oct. 1 to Oct. 4 for the Mid-Autumn Festival and Oct. 9 to Oct. 11 for Double Ten National Day — the bureau yesterday said that the apps, which provide traffic information, would share their information.
Photo: CNA
The Freeway 1968 app has an icon that can be tapped to access information related to Freeway No. 5, the bureau said.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) told reporters at a news conference that if motorists want to bypass Freeway No. 5, they would have to know the alternative routes and traffic conditions on them.
“The alternative routes to Freeway No. 5 are Highway No. 2 and Highway No. 9, but drivers would want to know which route would get them to their destinations the fastest from where they are,” Lin said. “This information should be available, but it would be a hassle and dangerous for drivers to switch between apps to find it.”
“Therefore, it was necessary to integrate the apps so people can make informed decisions,” he said.
The Freeway 1968 app has been downloaded about 3.8 million times and the Highway to Happiness app more than 1 million times, he said, adding that their combined data allow more drivers to access traffic updates.
The ministry has investigated every avenue to tackle congestion issues on Freeway No. 5, Lin said.
However, whether they are effective would only be determined after they are tested over the holidays, he said.
Motorists can help ease congestion by using the apps to plan their routes and complying with the bureau’s measures, he said.
The apps would provide drivers estimated travel times to help them decide whether to use Highway No. 9 between New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) and Yilan County’s Toucheng Township (頭城), or alternative routes between Toucheng and Keelung’s Nuannuan District (暖暖), the bureau said.
Drivers can find expected travel times if they want to travel from Sun Yat-Sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) or the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3) to reach the Nangang (南港) Interchange in Taipei to access Freeway No. 5, including congestion data for feeder roads on southbound and northbound lanes, the bureau said.
For drivers who are not familiar with alternative routes, a Google GPS icon under the name of the route is displayed on the apps, it said.
Freeway Bureau Director-General Chao Hsin-hua (趙興華) said that traffic volumes on Freeway No. 5 over the summer rose by 20 percent on weekdays and 24 percent on weekends.
As 50 percent of the vehicles that exit the Hsuehshan Tunnel access the Suhua Highway, the Freeway 1968 app has been updated to provide reports for travel between Suao (蘇澳) and Dongao (東澳) townships in Yilan, Chao said.
Similar information is available on the Highway to Happiness app, the DGH said.
Among other measures, the bureau is to close the Shiding (石碇) and Pinglin (坪林) interchanges at certain hours and enforce a high-occupancy vehicle policy from 6am rather than 7am to ensure smooth traffic flow on Freeway No. 5, Lin said.
The DGH urged people to use public transport to help ease traffic on the long weekends, adding that there would be discounts on express bus services from Taipei to the east coast.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
MORE RETALIATION: China would adopt a long-term pressure strategy to prevent other countries or future prime ministers following in Sanae Takaichi’s steps, an academic said Taiwan should maintain communications with Japan, as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is to lead a revision of security documents, Taiwanese academics said yesterday. Tensions have risen between Japan and China over remarks by Takaichi earlier this month that the use of force against Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) yesterday said Takaichi’s stance regarding Taiwan is the same as past Japanese prime ministers, but her position is clearer than that of her predecessors Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Although Japan views a “Taiwan contingency” as a “survival-threatening situation,” which would allow its military to
RSS