A “Mobile Forest” bus, a conceptual creation hoping to bring nature closer to urban commuters, was launched in Taipei on Wednesday morning.
The interior of the bus is decorated with Taiwanese flowers and the walkway is paved with artificial turf. The exterior of the bus features drawings by designer Xiao Qing-yang (蕭青陽).
The bus is the result of cooperation between Kuang-Hua Bus Co and a team of chief executives and company managers who are part of the Beautiful Touch Association.
Photo courtesy of the Beautiful Touch Association
The project is based on the theme that people acting alone can change their surroundings, and that action will make Taiwan a better and more beautiful place, the project members said.
The Mobile Forest operates along bus route No. 203 between Taipei’s Tianmu (天母) area and New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止).
There is only one bus per day during the trial period, which lasts until Sunday.
The bus is free to ride during the trial run, the association said.
The Mobile Forest cost NT$100,000 to prepare, including the flowers, and expected maintenance and management fees, the association said, adding that as it has limited funding, it is to assess whether the venture would be viable after the trial period.
Association members said that as only one Mobile Forest bus runs per day, they encourage people who are allergic to flowers or grass to take normal 203 buses.
The Taipei City Government has is not involved in the project and is not financing it, Kuang-Hua Bus manager Ma Tzu-chun (馬祖軍) said, adding that paperwork was sent to the city government because the bus is using the same route and stops as an existing service.
Taipei Department of Public Transportation Director Yang Chin-wen (楊欽文) said that the Mobile Forest was not a breach of any regulations.
Meanwhile, the Beautiful Touch Association was involved in a beautification project with Shihdong Market, with the association helping 18 stall owners to improve the aesthetics of their stalls and billboards.
“We hope that the Mobile Forest bus will also bring more visitors to Shihdong Market — as the service passes nearby — and allow more people to experience a traditional market,” the association said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by