Automated traffic lights that give priority to public transportation were put into operation on Sunday along Tainan’s green bus line, after the successful completion of a trial period.
Speaking at a news conference held to announce the launch the system, the Tainan City Government’s Bureau of Transportation director Chang Cheng-yuan (張政源) said that the lights are the nation’s first traffic management system that prioritizes public transportation on regular traffic lanes, as opposed to dedicated bus lanes.
The traffic lights that are installed on intersections along the the bus route between Tainan Railway Station and Sinhua District’s (新化) Sinhua Railway Station were built in the absence of a light railway or a rapid bus transport system in the city, Chang said.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
“The system is rare even globally,” he said.
During the trial period, the system shaved an average of five minutes off the time buses spent waiting at traffic lights during peak hours and three minutes during off-peak hours on each trip, which reduced the journey times by 10 percent, the bureau said.
COMMUTE-TIMES CUT
The system is expected to cut 6,705 hours per year from commutes, representing an estimated NT$14 million (US$427,116) in added productivity, and is to decrease carbon emissions by 24 tonnes per year, the bureau said.
Tainan Deputy Mayor Tseng Hsu-cheng (曾旭正) said that the system would increase the efficiency of public buses and encourage Tainan residents to use them more frequently, adding that the city plans to implement the system on other bus lines.
The system is to be installed on the city’s red line and green line next year, the bureau said, while the yellow, orange and brown lines are to receive the system in 2017, with a budget of NT$42 million.
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