The Taipei City Government will open parts of public parking lots for taxi drivers by the end of this year in an attempt to prevent lines of taxis at roadside taxi stands from tying up traffic.
Certain parking areas near MRT stations including Jiantan Station, Shipai Station, Taipei Main Station and the Taipei Zoo station of the Maokong Gondola will be reserved for 164 roadside taxi stands by the end of this year, Taipei City’s Transportation Department said.
The city government said it will also strengthen its measures to clamp down on taxis that fail to wait in designated spots.
Luo Shiaw-shyan (羅孝賢), commissioner of the department, said high oil prices have prompted more taxi drivers to wait for the passengers at roadside taxi stands rather than drive around looking for fares.
However, long lines of taxis at taxi stands have caused serious traffic congestion and brought complaints from the public.
The department has added 800 parking spots for taxi stands this year, but there are still not enough parking spaces to accommodate the more than 60,000 taxis driving around the city every day, he said.
Luo said the department would open about 10 parking spots in the public parking lot next to MRT Jiantan Station to ease traffic jams caused by the long line of taxis near the station.
Taxi drivers can park their cars in the parking lot, and pick up their customers when they receive messages from the taxi stations.
Big shopping malls, including Sogo Department Store and Taipei 101, and several retailers such as RT-Mart have already cooperated with taxi companies to set up on-call taxi stands at the stores’ underground parking lots.
Luo said the department would seek help from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and ask Taipei Main Station to give up some parking spots for taxis to solve traffic congestion there.
Chen Ming-cheng (陳銘政), director of Taipei City’s Traffic Police Department, said the department would strengthen the patrol efforts around the taxi stands and clamp down on drivers who park outside of designated spots.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS