TPass customers can expect cash rebates to be credited on May 25 after a three-month delay caused by a stalled central government budget in the Legislative Yuan, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told lawmakers in Taipei yesterday.
About NT$27.04 million (US$858,740) in rebates would be distributed once local governments submit applications for funding to the Highway Bureau, Chen told reporters before a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee.
Yesterday, the legislature passed a motion to mobilize NT$71.8 billion of the delayed budget for 38 projects, including funding for the TPass public transport program.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Bureau data showed that NT$8,542,378 in reimbursements is owed to 79,098 customers for January, NT$6,848,599 to 89,602 customers for February and NT$11,647,465 million to 91,905 customers for March.
Under the TPass program, people can purchase regional public transit passes for 30 days, loaded onto standard cards such as EasyCard, iPASS or icash.
The TPass gives users unlimited rides on the MRT, Taiwan Railways, city and intercity buses, light rail and shared public bicycles within designated geographic zones.
Also at the meeting, former Taipei deputy mayor Lee Shu-chuan (李四川), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) mayoral candidate for New Taipei City, proposed incorporating high-speed rail (HSR) tickets into the TPass program using a surcharge system.
Chen said that the HSR system has a different role and function from the services offered under TPass.
The HSR is already crowded in terms of capacity and ridership, he said, adding that the ministry has not yet discussed the issue.
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