Pricing for Taipei MRT tickets could change by the end of the year, with the 20 percent discount for using electronic payment cards replaced by a frequency-based scheme, if a new proposal is approved, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said this week.
The new pricing scheme might charge people based on how often they use the metro rail system, with those using the service more than 40 times a month possibly receiving a discount of more than 20 percent, said TRTC, the government-owned corporation that operates the Taipei MRT.
Under the proposal, occasional MRT users would receive a lower discount, but details were still being finalized, the company said, adding that the pricing plan is to be reviewed by the Taipei City Government by the end of this year.
While its operational costs continue to increase with the network’s expansion, it has not increased fares since the first line opened in 1996, the company said.
The pricing scheme is not good for marketing and not fair to users, it said.
The 20 percent discount was part of a campaign launched to implement the government’s policy of having a transportation system that uses electronic payment cards. This goal has been met, as 97 percent of people who use the Taipei MRT use electronic cards to pass through ticket gates.
The amount saved with the 20 percent discount totaled NT$42.4 billion (US$1.37 billion) as of last year, it said.
A pricing adjustment could prompt people to take fewer long-haul rides, while New Taipei City councilors have said that the campaign might discourage its residents from using the system, it said.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
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The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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