Starting next month, people who signed up for the TPass 2.0 program can receive a 15 percent rebate for trips on mid to long-distance freeway buses or on buses headed to the east coast twice every month, the Highway Bureau said.
Bureau Director-General Lin Fu-shan (林福山) said the government started TPass 2.0 to offer rebates to frequent riders of public transportation, or people who use city buses, highway buses, trains or MRTs at least 11 times per month.
As of Nov. 12, 265,000 people have registered for TPass 2.0, and about 16.56 million trips between February and September qualified for rebates, Lin said.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
TPass 2.0 mainly benefits commuters who use the MRT or city buses to travel to work or school. Passengers on mid and long-distance freeway buses are mainly homebound travelers, making it difficult for them to be qualify for frequent rider rebates.
The new incentive, called TPass 2.0+, would give rebates to freeway bus passengers traveling more than 70km along the west coast and those traveling to the east coast, Lin said.
The program covers 91 freeway bus routes, and TPass 2.0 holders would qualify for frequent rider rebates if they use those services at least twice per month, he said, adding that the rebates could reach 40 percent if they take such rides four times in a month.
People who travel during major national holidays, during which bus passengers are given a 40 percent discount on tickets, would enjoy an even bigger ticket discount if they are on the TPass 2.0+ program, the bureau said.
For example, a roundtrip ticket between Taipei and Kaohsiung costs NT$1,606 on regular days. The price for bus travelers during major holidays would be NT$964 and that would fall to NT$819 for those on TPass 2.0+, it said.
The ticket price would be NT$1,348 if there were two major holidays in one month, it added.
The rebates are only available for electronic ticket card users, including those using EasyCard, iPass and iCash 2.0, Lin said.
The maximum amount of rebates a card user could receive each month is capped at NT$2,500, starting next month.
TPass 2.0 users can collect their rebates on the 25th of the following month at convenience stores, MRT stations and their electronic card apps, the bureau said.
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