The Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau announced yesterday that it had outsourced the operation of freeway service areas to private contractors.
The bureau had previously managed the nation’s 14 service areas on Freeways Nos. 1, 3 and 5.
Four years ago, however, the bureau outsourced the operations of 13 service areas to private contractors under the operate-transfer (OT) model stipulated by the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法).
The Shihding Service Area on Freeway No. 5 is currently the only one that does not follow the OT business model.
Its current contract, however, will expire in June next year, after which it will be switched to the OT model.
Revenues generated by service areas topped NT$2.8 billion (US$82 million) last year, bureau Director-General Lee Tai-ming (李泰明) said, with the bureau collecting about NT$500 million in fees.
Each of the service areas under the OT model serves as more than just a place where drivers can fill up their gas tanks, use restrooms or eat a meal.
The Taian Service Area on Freeway No. 1 in Taichung, for example, has an exhibition of beetle species that can be found in nearby forests.
At the Siluo Service Area on the same freeway, visitors can use their ID cards to borrow Taiwanese puppets and perform on a stage set.
The Nantou and Kukeng service areas on Freeway No. 3, on the other hand, have planted flowers to feed the purple milkweed butterflies that fly through that part of the country each year.
“People can now buy food, local delicacies, souvenirs, shoes and cosmetics at service areas,” Lee said. “They are more like mini-shopping malls.”
Meanwhile, in view of recent criticism of airport food, Lee said that the bureau had stepped up the frequency of inspections at food courts in service areas from once every two months to once a month.
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
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