A digital reward program used to track personal carbon reduction for taking public transportation would lower its threshold next year to attract more users, local officials in northern Taiwan said yesterday.
The Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan governments last year jointly launched the “My Carbon Reduction Passbook” program, which has since recorded more than 440,000 users with a total carbon reduction of about 55,000 tonnes.
At a joint news conference in Taipei, the city’s Deputy Mayor Chang Wen-te (張溫德) said the program effortlessly incorporates carbon reduction into daily life.
Photo: Tung Kuan-yi, Taipei Times
The platform calculates personal carbon reduction amounts from using public transportation, he said.
While a tree absorbs about 12kg to 13kg of carbon per year on average, the program’s redemption threshold for rewards would be lowered to 5kg from 20kg in carbon reduction, equivalent to one-third of a tree’s annual carbon absorption, Chang said.
That is expected to make the program more engaging to users, he said.
Users across the four cities have amounted to more than 449,000 people as of yesterday, Chang said, adding that local authorities are working on technical challenges to expand the program from public transportation to other areas.
Keelung Deputy Mayor Chiu Pei-lin (邱佩琳) said the number of users has increased by 160,000 this year thanks to public-private cooperation.
Keelung has the second-highest commuter rate and the highest electric scooter rate among the nation’s administrative regions, and the city is dedicated to environmental protection, she said.
The city government would collaborate with universities and local companies to promote energy saving and carbon reduction in the city, with the goal of boosting the number of users to 600,000 next year, she said.
New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Liu Ho-jan (劉和然) said the commercial, industrial and transportation sectors were the top three carbon emission sources in the city.
It is important to promote carbon reduction via public transportation, including the high-speed rail, traditional railways, metro systems, light rail systems and buses, he said.
New Taipei City’s Sanying Line would come into operation next year and be included in the program, he said.
As Taiwanese are committed to environmental protection, incentives could further increase participation, he said.
Taoyuan City Government Secretary-General Wen Tai-hsin (溫代欣) said he enrolled in the program on Sunday and rode a YouBike yesterday.
He pledged to step up his personal carbon reduction via the passbook.
Fifty more routes would be added to the “Taoyuan Small Bus” service — which uses nine-seater vehicles — with the goal of setting up 200 such routes in the city over the next three years, Wen said.
Several new bus routes would also be established in connection with the city’s transportation hubs, he said, adding that Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang (張善政) would unveil further details.
Given that the Sanying Line would be operational next year, the New Taipei City Government would assist in extending the line to Taoyuan’s Bade District (八德), he said, adding that a “silver line” linking New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) to Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山) would be added to the intercity metro system.
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