Road traffic and passenger volumes on freeways, railways and high-speed rail are expected to reach a holiday peak today, the third day of the Lunar New Year, transportation agencies said yesterday, advising travelers to plan accordingly.
The Freeway Bureau estimated that traffic on freeways today would reach its peak, totaling 135 million vehicle-kilometers — about 1.5 times the usual daily volume.
A vehicle-kilometer is a measure of traffic flow representing the movement of a vehicle over 1km.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Control measures such as ramp closures, high-occupancy vehicle restrictions, and ramp signal controls, would be implemented, the bureau said, adding that drivers should consider alternative routes.
Taiwan Railway Corp said that passenger volume has been steadily increasing since Tuesday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, and is expected to remain high through tomorrow.
It estimated that the peak single-day passenger volume would be reached today, at 901,000 passengers nationwide, including approximately 756,000 on the Western Line.
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp also said that peak readership would be reached today, with an estimated 330,000 to 357,000 passengers, compared with about 318,911 on the same day in previous years.
On average, the high-speed rail handles about 220,000 passengers per day, with holiday volumes reaching up to 300,000, it said.
Any single-day ridership exceeding 300,000 is considered an exceptionally high volume for the high-speed rail, it added.
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