There was no bus stopping space marked out in front of the bus shelter at the intersection of Chengde and Sanshe East roads in Taichung’s Shengang District. Instead, two car parking spaces were painted there, making it difficult for buses to stop at the roadside and causing inconvenience for passengers waiting for buses.
City Councilor Lai Chao-kuo remarked that buses have exclusive spaces to stop at the roadside. If the road width makes it impossible to provide one, an indicator line should be painted instead. However, in the case of the bus shelter at the intersection of Chengde and Sanshe East roads, there was neither an exclusive bus stopping space nor an indicator line in front of it. On the contrary, two car parking spaces had been marked out there. Lai said members of the public had complained that when there were cars parked in the parking spaces and people wanted to board a bus, they would first have to dodge around the cars and make a short run to board the bus, which was quite a hassle.
Lai pointed out that, as stipulated by the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act, it is forbidden to park a car or scooter or wait in a car or a scooter within 10 meters in front of or behind a bus stop, yet the city government had painted parking spaces in front of the bus shelter. Lai said: “The way these spaces have been marked out is simply a mess. If the government doesn’t know the law, how are the public supposed to know any better?” Lai called on the Transportation Bureau to do an overall survey of the provision of exclusive bus stopping spaces in Taichung City, so as to enhance the convenience and safety of buses stopping at the roadside throughout the municipality.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者歐素美
Transportation Bureau Director-General Wang Yi-chuan said that the bus shelter on Chengde Road was erected in 2014. He said that, according to the regulations, car spaces within 10 meters in front of and behind the bus stop should have been painted out, but the office appointed by the Transportation Bureau to do the job had not got around to painting over them. Wang said that a few days previously the Taipower Company had dug the road up and filled it in again in order to lay pipes, and had then repainted the existing parking spaces, which made them stand out especially clearly. Having been informed about it on Tuesday last week, the bureau corrected the mistake by immediately sending workers to erase the parking spaces and paint a yellow line prohibiting cars from temporarily stopping there, Wang said.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
台中神岡區承德路與三社東路口公車亭前未劃設公車停車格,卻劃了兩個汽車停車格,造成公車停靠及民眾等車不便。
市議員賴朝國表示,公車有專屬公車停靠專用格,若因路幅限制無法繪設則應改繪指示標線,但承德路與三社東路口公車亭前,沒有公車停靠專用格及標線,反而劃設兩個小客車停車格,民眾投訴若遇上小客車停在停車格內,要上公車得先閃過汽車後小跑步上公車,相當不便。
賴朝國指出,道路交通管理處罰條例規定,公車招呼站前後十公尺內不能停放車輛,並禁止汽機車臨時停車,市府卻在公車亭前劃設一般停車格,「簡直亂畫一通,政府都不知法了,民眾怎麼會知道」,要求交通局全面檢視台中市公車停靠專用格位的設置,全面提升公車停靠的便利性及安全性。
交通局長王義川表示,承德路的公車亭於一○三年設置,依規定公車站前後十公尺的停車格應塗銷,但交通局承辦單位遲未塗銷,日前台電為埋設管線進行道路開挖及回填,又將原有停車格復舊,使得停車格顯得特別醒目。交通局上週二獲知隨即派工塗銷停車格,並劃上黃線,禁止臨時停車,改正錯誤。(自由時報記者歐素美)
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been used in cooking for over a century to enhance flavor. It is often found in Chinese dishes and many other cuisines. Despite its common use, many people misunderstand the safety of MSG. The bad __1__ of MSG started in the late 1960s, when a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine described symptoms like a racing heart, weakness, and numbness after the writer ate Northern Chinese food. While no specific cause was __2__, a series of questionable studies in 1968 began to point the finger at MSG. In one such study, neurologist Herbert Schaumburg and
A: The World Expo 2025 is set to open in Osaka, Japan, on Sunday, with 158 countries and regions and nine international organizations participating in the event. B: Wow, what’s the theme this time? A: The theme is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” B: Do you want to go? How long will it last? A: It’ll run for 184 days, until Oct. 13. Maybe we can go to Osaka during summer vacation. A: 2025年世界博覽會預計週日將在日本大阪開幕,158個國家或地區及9大國際組織將參與盛會! B: 哇這次的主題是什麼? A: 主題是:「創造閃耀生命光輝的未來社會」。 B: 你想要去嗎?展出多久啊? A: 世博會共展出184天到10月13日,或許我們暑假時可以去大阪玩。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張迪)
A: The World Expo 2025 is about to open in Osaka. Is Taiwan going to participate in the event too? B: Sure, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) will launch a Taiwan pavilion named “Tech World.” A: That sounds cool, and it can showcase our national strength in technology. B: The theme is “Connecting the world to create better future lives together.” The pavilion aims to attract over one million visitors. A: I hope humans can really create better future lives through this year’s fair. A: 2025年世博會即將開幕,這次台灣也會參加嗎? B: 當然啦,外貿協會的台灣館將以「Tech World」名義參展! A: 聽起來蠻酷的,應該是想強調台灣的科技實力。 B: 策展主題則是:「連結世界,共創未來美好生活」,希望能吸引到100萬人次參訪。 A: 希望藉由這次世博會,人類真的能共創美好生活。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張迪)
The study had several issues. Small sample sizes made it hard to draw __7__ conclusions. Additionally, taking a __8__ like pure MSG on an empty stomach is likely to make a person ill in any case. Choosing individuals who already had a history of the symptoms could have created a bias because they were likely to __9__ the reactions again. When real scientific research on the effects of MSG was eventually done, many of the myths surrounding it were proven __10__. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other global organizations have found MSG safe to eat. Today, MSG