Premier Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday visited the National Freeway Bureau and praised its initiative to offer travelers an online forecast of traffic conditions, saying that the measure would be an immeasurable boon for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Over the nine-day holiday there might be a critical level of traffic on highways due to good weather forecasts, Chang said, adding that he paid the bureau a visit to not only inquire on the measure, but also to deliver holiday bonuses.
In the past, the bureau only provided up-to-date traffic reports, but Chang had suggested that the bureau create forecasts of traffic conditions as far as two days in advance, the bureau said.
Photo: CNA
The premier praised the bureau’s efficiency in setting up the new system, saying that providing travelers with traffic forecasts in advance would allow them to better plan their travel itineraries.
Aside from online forecasts available on its Web site, the bureau also created a mobile app, National Freeway Bureau 1968 (高公局1968). However, it said that the app would only provide updates on traffic conditions in and around Taipei, Taichung and on the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5).
Chang instructed the bureau to refine the app to report updated traffic conditions nationwide.
Peak traffic is forecast to manifest on Tuesday and Friday next week, bureau Director Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) said, adding that southbound traffic will probably be most congested on Tuesday, with about 1.65 million vehicles on freeways.
The bureau estimated the same amount of vehicles traveling north on Thursday next week, Chen said, adding that the highest peak average would be about 3.1 million to 3.3 million vehicles on Wednesday next week.
Meanwhile, Chang said he instructed the National Highway Police Bureau to be on heightened alert during the Lunar New Year holiday, anticipating the need for fast response times in the event of accidents.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS