The busiest day for highway traffic is expected to be the third day of Lunar New Year, Jan. 31, and highway tolls would be suspended for five days between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2, the Freeway Bureau announced today.
Traffic is expected to mostly consist of tourists and people returning to their hometowns, Chang Keng-tsung (張耿宗), head of the Highway Bureau’s traffic management division, said today in a news conference.
Southbound traffic should be heaviest in the first three days of the holiday, peaking on the second day, Chang said, adding that the bureau estimates 71 million vehicle kilometers (mvk) would be driven on that day, 1.5 times more than average.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
Northbound traffic would be heaviest between the third and fifth days of Lunar New Year, peaking on the fourth day with an estimated 76 mvk, 1.6 times more than average, he said.
The heaviest traffic day in total is expected to be the third day, with the bureau estimating 139 mvk, 1.5 times a usual day’s throughput and close to historic highs, Chang added.
As this year’s holiday period is earlier than usual, southbound traffic can be more spread out and less congested, Peng Huan-ju (彭煥儒), deputy director of the Freeway Bureau, said today.
The Freeway Bureau also announced several measures to ensure smooth traffic flow for the holiday, including alternate routes, off-ramp closures, toll collection changes and more.
From Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 from 1 pm to 6 pm, there would be high occupancy controls at each northbound interchange for National Freeway No. 1 between Siaying District (下營) in Tainan and Toufen City (頭份) in Miaoli, Chang said.
On National Freeway No. 5, the same regulations apply from Jan. 31 to Feb 2 from 1pm to 6pm, he added.
Tolls are scheduled to be suspended starting at midnight from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, he said.
This would hopefully reduce traffic on subsequent days, Peng added.
There may be long traffic jams and even overnight congestion, the Freeway Bureau warned.
The bureau also advised northbound travelers in the south to leave by 9am to avoid the worst of the congestion, and those in the central part of the country to depart by 12pm.
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