Taipei has designated 38 public temporary parking spaces as part of efforts to provide more legal stopping zones following the tightening of traffic rules last year.
Changes to the traffic violation point system that went into effect on June 30 last year have been met with heavy criticism from motorists who say there are not enough places to stop temporarily, resulting in unfair demerits.
Since then, the Taipei Department of Transportation has changed 236 roadway sections to allow for temporary parking.
Photo: Tsai Ssu-pei, Taipei Times
It has also recently designated 38 public temporary parking spaces in 18 areas citywide, intended to provide a legal stopping zone for taxis, delivery trucks and other professional drivers for up to three minutes.
It is the first time the city has designated temporary parking spots for broad use.
However, some professional drivers say the parking spaces must become ubiquitous if they are to have any use.
One taxi driver said that passengers are used to calling cabs from the side of the road, so unless many more are designated, drivers will still be fined.
The department said that priority would be given to such multiple-use stopping zones in future renovations, with plans to make 100 by the end of the year.
Local borough offices may also request areas to set up stopping areas, it said.
As they become more common, passengers are to become more used to boarding taxis from designated stopping zones, it added.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS