The Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) is assessing whether motorcycles with 50 to 250 cubic centimeter (cc) engines should be allowed on improved sections of the Suhua Highway (Highway No. 9), Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) told the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.
The three improved sections run along Taiwan’s rugged east coast — from Suao (蘇澳) to Dongao (東澳) townships in Yilan County; from Nanao Township (南澳) in Yilan to Heping Township (和平) in Hualien County; and from Hejhong (和中) to Dacingshuei (大清水) in Hualien. The last of the three sections was opened to traffic in January 2020.
In addition to allowing passenger vehicles and large cargo trucks on the improved sections, the highway authority on Sept. 30 last year began a six-month trial for motorcycles with 250cc engines or bigger.
Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei Times
The improved sections are safe and should be open to motorcyclists, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) said, adding that residents of Suao Township have expressed the need to access the sections on scooters.
Wang said the Suhua Highway Improvement Project was launched because the old routes were unsafe due to frequent rockslides.
It would be dangerous for motorcyclists to resume riding on the old routes, he added.
“Moreover, it is a highway, not a freeway or an expressway. As far as safety is concerned, the improved sections should also be opened to regular motorcycles,” he said.
After the six-month trial, the DGH should be able to assess whether the proposal is feasible, he said.
As of February, Taiwan had about 13.38 million motorcycles with 50cc to 250cc engines, accounting for about 94 percent of registered motorcycles, ministry data showed.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
RSS