The Freeway Bureau yesterday unveiled a series of measures to facilitate traffic flow on freeways during the New Year holiday, which include not charging toll frees from 12am to 5am.
The New Year long weekend begins on Jan. 1, a Friday, and ends on Jan. 3.
The measures were decided upon after reviewing freeway traffic during the New Year holiday last year, which was from Saturday to Tuesday, as well as traffic during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays this year, the bureau said.
Traffic during this New Year holiday would mostly be caused by travelers who want to watch the sun set on Dec. 31, join festivities on New Year’s Eve and watch the sunrise on Jan. 1, the bureau said.
To facilitate traffic flow, freeway toll fees would be waived daily from 12am to 5am during the three-day holiday, it said.
Drivers of small passenger vehicles would be charged NT$0.9 per kilometer traveled, and the usual daily toll-free distance of 20km would fall away, the bureau said.
Drivers would receive an additional 20 percent discount if they take the route between the Hsinchu (新竹) and Yanchao (燕巢) interchanges on the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3), the bureau said.
The high-occupancy vehicle policy would be implemented on the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5). Specifically, high-occupancy hours would apply to southbound drivers entering the freeway from the Nangang (南港) Interchange from 6am to 12pm on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2.
On Jan. 2 and 3, northbound travelers accessing the freeway through the Suao (蘇澳), Luodong (羅東), Yilan and Toucheng (頭城) interchanges should observe the high-occupancy policy from 2pm to 9pm.
The high-occupancy hours are subject to change, depending on the amount of traffic on Freeway No. 5, the bureau said.
At the Sun Yat-sen Freeway’s (Freeway No. 1) Pingjhen (平鎮) and Puyan (埔鹽) interchanges, entrance ramps to the southbound lanes would be closed all day on Jan. 1, the bureau said.
On Jan. 2, entrance ramps to the northbound and southbound lanes at the Puyan Interchange, the northbound lanes at the Huwei (虎尾) Interchange on Freeway No. 1 and the northbound lanes at Freeway No. 3’s Sibin (西濱) Interchange would be closed all day.
On the last day of the holiday, the northbound and southbound entrance ramps at the Puyan Interchange and northbound entrance ramps at the Huwei and Sibin interchanges would be closed.
Entrance ramps to the southbound lanes at Freeway No. 5’s Shiding (石碇) and Pinglin (坪林) interchanges would also be closed from 12am to 12pm to small passenger vehicles on Jan. 1 and 2, the bureau said.
The entrance ramps could still be accessed by large passenger vehicles during these two days, it added.
Southbound travelers are encouraged to depart after 1pm on Jan. 1 and 2, the bureau said, adding that people heading back to work before the holiday ends should consider leaving before 12pm on Jan. 2 and 3.
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