Fines are to be imposed from next month on gasoline and diesel cars parked in spaces designated for electric vehicles, the Taipei Parking Management and Development Office said.
The office said the new rule is to be imposed from Friday and that, as per the Parking Facility Act (停車場法), owners of vehicles with traditional internal combustion engines are to be fined NT$600 to NT$1,200 if they park illegally.
Parking spots designated for electric cars in Taipei function as charging stations and are marked by green lines.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Cement Corp
The office said the new measure is in line with a Ministry of Transportation and Communications regulation that forbids non-electric cars occupying parking spaces designated for electric vehicles.
Parking fees for electric cars are to be altered, with the amount payable set to be calculated by electricity consumed per kilowatt-hour, it added.
Electric car owners pay NT$10 per hour more than drivers of fuel-powered vehicles, with another NT$10 per hour levied on electric car owners who do not charge their vehicles while parked.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Ho Meng-hua (何孟樺) on Friday said that the Taipei City Government needs to improve its policies regarding electric cars.
Ho said that the city had only installed about 600 parking spots for electric cars, despite aiming to have 1,200 by next year.
Ho added that 150 of the installed spots were inside parking lots, with some reporting that their charging equipment was being used less than 20 times a month.
Ho said city data showed that Taipei’s Zhongzheng (中正), Nangang (南港) and Daan (大安) districts each had fewer than 30 electric car parking spaces as of the end of last year.
Taipei needs to conduct thorough research before building new parking spaces to maximize efficiency, she added.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,