More than 60 percent of Greater Kaohsiung residents use scooters, putting scooter use in the city not only higher than the national average, but also at the top of the list among the five special municipalities.
According to the latest statistics from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), nationwide scooter usage last year stood at 48.5 perrcent, but 61.9 percent of Greater Kaohsiung’s residents use scooters, ranking it the municipality with the highest scooter usage of all five special municipalities. It also means Kaohsiung is the only city where more than 60 percent of city’s population use scooters.
The DGBAS said the numbers were connected to the high density of scooters within Greater Kaohsiung, with 830 scooters for every 1,000 people. Greater Tainan comes in at second place with 775 scooters per 1,000 people. In Taipei, there are 415 scooters per 1,000 people, DGBAS statistics showed.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
DGBAS data show that Greater Kaohsiung broke the 750 scooter level in 2007 and went on to break the 800 mark in 2009.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications suspects that, aside from a lack of public transportation in southern cities and counties contributing to the massive scooter proliferation rate, more sunny weather also plays a role.
The ministry also says that because the average income in southern Taiwan is lower than that of Taipei, riding a scooter is more cost-efficient than driving a car or using public transport.
Despite the efforts of the Greater Kaohsiung Government to promote public transportation, figures for public transportation use in the city stand at only 6.6 percent — only slightly higher than Greater Tainan’s 4.9 percent — and the city ranked fourth out of the five special municipalities.
However, the DGBAS data suggested that while Kaohsiung’s public transport usage figures were dismal, it was a slight increase compared with 2010 and this showed that the city government’s efforts are finally beginning to pay off.
Meanwhile, the data showed that 1,113 parking lots were taken up for every thousand cars in Greater Kaohsiung, meaning the city’s automobile usage rate is less than half that of Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市).
Greater Kaohsiung councilors have also made the high proliferation of scooters in the city one of their top priorities and in the first half of the year asked for the government to suggest proposals on how to reduce the number of scooters in the city.
Some city councilors have even suggested that the city government take a page from China’s book and stop authorizing scooter licenses on a general basis.
With an excess of scooter traffic comes the problem of illegal parking and in an effort to curb the practice the government has begun to set up scooter parking areas in traffic-heavy neighborhoods, such as Rueifung Night Market, Kaohsiung Train Station and the Shiinkuchan Commercial Zone (新崛江商圈).
The Greater Kaohsiung Government said it charges a standard fee for each scooter entering a parking area and so far scooter riders have accepted the charge. It added that it is asking its police force to step up efforts at handing out fines along with other punitive measures for illegal parking.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS