The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is seeking to relax regulations to allow public buses to carry cargo to people in rural areas, it said yesterday.
The ministry proposed changes to transportation regulations amid a rising demand for cargo transport services in the wake of a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert, which encourages people to stay at home.
Severe backlogs of deliveries have been reported by major logistics service operators, including Kerry TJ Logistics, President Transnet, HCT Logistics and Taiwan Pelican Express.
People who do not live in cities are the most affected by shipping delays, the ministry said.
“Most cargo transport operators are unwilling to deliver goods to rural areas, given the smaller amount of deliveries made there, the low frequency and high costs,” the ministry said. “In Japan, public buses are used to deliver goods to residents in rural areas, which is certainly worthy of consideration.”
The ministry was originally to review the regulations on shipping after the Lunar New Year holiday, but those talks were delayed after a fatal Taroko Express derailment on April 2, as well as a recent spike in locally transmitted cases of COVID-19, it said.
Ministry officials said that they were still amending the regulations, but were leaning toward relaxing them to allow public bus services in rural areas to carry passengers and goods.
“Once the drafts of the amendments are finalized, we would let local government officials review and comment on them. We hope that progress on this matter could be accelerated, despite the outbreak,” it said.
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