Freeways are to be toll-free during the Double Ten National Day holiday from 12am to 5am during the first three days and from 12am to 10am on the last day of the long weekend, the Freeway Bureau announced on Sunday.
The Double Ten National Day holiday this year is from Oct. 10 to Oct. 13.
All freeway drivers are to be charged NT$0.9 per kilometer during the holiday, the bureau said, adding that the regular weekend policy of a toll-free first 20km is to be suspended.
Drivers taking the route between the Hsinchu and Yenchao (燕巢) interchanges would receive an additional 20 percent discount on tolls, it said.
Drivers would need to observe the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) policy on certain freeway sections on certain days.
On Oct. 10, HOV hours would be enforced from 7am to 12pm on southbound ramps of the Neihu (內湖) and Toufen (頭份) interchanges of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) and ramps of the Mucha (木柵) and Hsiangshan (香山) interchanges of the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3), the bureau said.
On Oct. 10 and 11, HOV hours would be enforced from 7am to 12pm on southbound ramps of the Nangang (南港), Shihding (石碇) and Pinglin (坪林) interchanges of the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5), it said.
On Oct. 12 and 13, HOV hours would be enforced from 2pm to 9pm on northbound ramps of the Suao (蘇澳), Luodong (羅東) and Yilan (宜蘭) interchanges of Freeway No. 5, it said, adding that the HOV hours on these two days could change depending on northbound traffic.
The bureau said it would also enforce other measures to facilitate holiday traffic, such as peak hours, closing certain southbound and northbound ramps on Freeway No. 1 and Freeway No. 3, opening freeway shoulders to traffic on several sections and activating meters on a few ramps to strictly regulate the traffic entering the lanes.
Yesterday, the bureau started charging drivers for the cleanup of debris or items that fall from vehicles on freeways.
Drivers are exempt from paying the fee if it takes less than 30 minutes to remove the debris, the bureau said.
If the cleanup time is 30 minutes or more, the driver would need to pay NT$3,000 per traffic lane closed for every 30 minutes that workers are cleaning up, it added.
More than 40,000 cases of freeway debris are recorded each year, the bureau said, adding that the debris not only disrupts traffic, but also causes secondary accidents.
About 7,000 cases involve broken tire treads, it added.
In addition, the Hsinchu Motor Vehicle Office has been entrusted by the Directorate-General of Highways to publish a pamphlet in March next year that would instruct drivers how to properly tie up goods on a cargo truck, the bureau said.
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