The Ministry of Transportation and Communications plans to honor a commitment to expand a 30-day bus and MRT pass to cover northern regions, despite the four mayoral candidates who proposed the idea not being elected on Saturday, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday.
The Taipei City Government and New Taipei City Government fund the monthly pass with an annual subsidy of NT$560 million and NT$380 million (US$18.06 million and US$12.25 million) per year respectively.
The pass was introduced in 2018 by the governments of Taipei City and New Taipei City.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
For NT$1,280, the pass provides unlimited travel for 30 days within and between the two cities on their MRT and bus systems, and also includes free use of the YouBike system for 30 minutes per trip.
Prior to Saturday’s elections, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), New Taipei City mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Keelung mayoral candidate Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) and Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said they would expand the monthly pass plan to include commuters in Keelung and Taoyuan, and lower the price to NT$1,200 per 30 days.
“The monthly pass was introduced to encourage the use of the public transportation system. It helps conserve energy, cut carbon emissions and reduce traffic accidents and deaths,” Wang said.
“So long as city government officials make proposals on how they want to execute monthly pass plans, we will review them and make the subsidies available based on their proposals,” he said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.
RSS