About 3 million vehicles hit the roads yesterday on the second day of the Lunar New Year, the day when married daughters return to their parents’ home (Hui Niang Jia), packing several sections of the nation’s highways, the National Freeway Bureau said.
“We estimate that the traffic volume will fall between 2.7 million and 2.9 million vehicle-times,” said Lu Wen-yu (呂文玉), the bureau’s Traffic Management Division vice director, adding that if so, the amount would be 500,000 more than the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The bureau said the first wave of vehicles had been expected to appear from 8am to 12am as some families headed to the homes of wives’ parents, and others headed for amusement parks or recreation areas.
Photo: Luo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Despite the cold, rainy weather in northern Taiwan, vehicles began packing the southbound lanes on the freeways at about 8am, causing average traffic speed to drop to about 30kph at some sections. Traffic congestion between Taoyuan’s Jhongli (中壢) and Neili (內壢), reduced the average speed to as slow as 15kph for a period of time.
Traffic monitoring in the morning showed more cars were heading south, and the congested sections were shortened around midday, the bureau said at noon.
Bureau officials said another wave of cars going north was expected to begin showing up after 3pm.
“We estimate that there will be some waves of cars going north in the afternoon, with sections from Siluo (西螺) to Yuanlin (員林) on Freeway No. 1, from Jhongtou (中投) to Caotun (草屯) on Freeway No. 3, and from Toucheng (頭城) to Pinglin (坪林) Freeway No. 5 being sections that may move slowly,” Traffic Management Division director Hsu Fu-Shen (徐福聲) said.
To ease traffic during the Lunar New Year period, the bureau has implemented toll-free hours between 12am and 7am, and allowed usage of the hard shoulder at more than 20 sections of the freeways.
The bureau estimated that the traffic volume today may even exceed yesterday’s numbers and suggested motorists make use of the toll-free period to get on the freeways before 7am, take alternative roads, or check the online traffic control information before hitting the road, to prevent getting stuck in traffic jams.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS