Public transportation accounted for 15.2 percent of trips in Taiwan last year, up 0.9 percentage points from 2022, a survey released on Friday by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications showed.
The increased use of public transportation can be attributed to the end of social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic and programs, such as TPass, encouraging the use of buses and metro services, Department of Statistics Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
The study was conducted from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31 last year, garnering responses from Taiwanese aged 15 or older about their travel the day before.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung City Government’s Transportation Bureau
On Feb. 1, TPass 2.0 was launched, with the maximum rebate for frequent public transport commuters rising to 40 percent.
The survey showed that women were more likely to use public transport than men, with 19.2 percent of female respondents saying they used it a day earlier compared with 11 percent of males.
Use of green transportation was 28 percent, a 0.3 percentage point increase from 27.7 percent two years ago, when the survey was last conducted, Chen said.
Green transportation is public electric vehicles and trains, and non-motorized vehicles, she said.
The survey showed that 43.7 percent of respondents used motorcycles, 26.6 percent used cars, 9.9 percent walked, 6.6 percent used trains, including high-speed rail, and 6 percent used buses or shuttle services.
Use of trains rose 1.1 percentage points last year, overtaking use of buses and shuttles for the first time in the survey’s history, the ministry said.
Urban metros, the high-speed rail and Taiwan Rail use increased 0.6, 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points respectively, it said.
The survey asked respondents their reasons for traveling and broke the answers down by age.
It showed that 76.2 percent of respondents in the 15-to-19 age group traveled to school, while commuting to work was the reason for 55.4 percent of those aged 20 to 60 and 34.5 percent for those aged 60 to 64.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS