Local governments in northern Taiwan can provide funds to continue TPass until June, transportation directors from Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan said today after meeting to discuss how the stalled central government budget has impacted the program.
TPass is a joint policy between central and local governments that benefits the public, Taipei Department of Transportation Commissioner Hsieh Ming-hung (謝銘鴻) said after the meeting.
To prioritize public well-being, local government subsidies could be used first to cover the expenses, Hsieh said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The subsidies could cover the program costs until the end of May or early June, but if they were canceled, commuters would spend an average of NT$900 more per month, he said.
The governments are not considering raising TPass fares, he said, adding that they are putting faith in the central government, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan to come up with a short-term solution.
The four cities hope that the central government would do its best to coordinate, propose contingency plans and pass the budget as soon as possible so that public benefits are not interrupted, Hsieh said.
New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Liu Ho-jan (劉和然) yesterday called on the Executive Yuan to speak plainly about the central government budget review and not use rhetoric to mislead the public.
If the budget has not yet been approved, continuing budgets could be implemented as long as they do not exceed last year’s funding levels, he told reporters.
Even though the budget is not currently being reviewed in the legislature, the Executive Yuan could send the TPass case to the Legislative Yuan first to be approved and implemented, he added.
Currently about 698,000 people use TPass every month and about 379,000 people use TPass 2.0, Ministry of Transportation and Communications data showed.
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