Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
Hau told a meeting of city government officials that before he will consider charging motorists congestion fees, the city should have a fully operational mass rapid transit (MRT) system.
He said the city government could evaluate the feasibility of whether congestion charges should be introduced in Taipei once the city's MRT system is fully developed, four years from now.
Hau said that he would be willing to discuss the issue with central government officials provided they can help Taipei complete its MRT network sooner than planned with increased financial subsidies.
The mayor made the remarks after newspapers reported that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications was floating a proposal to begin a pilot program in Taipei by charging a NT$20 or NT$50 congestion fee for each car or motorcycle entering the city's eastern district.
The eastern district, where the Taipei city government and the Taipei World Trade Center's three exhibition halls are located, is the busiest and most congested area in Taipei.
In 2003, London began to charge each motorist ?5 (US$10) to enter a 20km2 area in the city center in an attempt to force commuters to switch to public transportation. The congestion fee was raised to ?8 in 2005.
In February this year, the congestion charging zone was extended to West London.
Although the London mayor claims that the congestion charging system has cut traffic jams in central London by 30 percent and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 20 percent, most retailers and restaurant owners in the city center have complained about a decrease in customer numbers and falling turnover.
London was not the first city to adopt congestion charging, is the largest city to have done so.
In 1975 Singapore became the first city to implement a cordon-based congestion pricing system. It switched to an automatic electronic road pricing system in 1998.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from