Mobile apps developed by the Freeway Bureau and the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) have been integrated into the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ plans to ease congestion on the Chiang Wei-Shui Freeway (Freeway No. 5) over the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ten National Day next month.
The ministry was criticized after heavy congestion on the freeway for 32 consecutive hours on the first two days of the Dragon Boat Festival in June.
With two long weekends next month — Oct. 1 to Oct. 4 for the Mid-Autumn Festival and Oct. 9 to Oct. 11 for Double Ten National Day — the bureau yesterday said that the apps, which provide traffic information, would share their information.
Photo: CNA
The Freeway 1968 app has an icon that can be tapped to access information related to Freeway No. 5, the bureau said.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) told reporters at a news conference that if motorists want to bypass Freeway No. 5, they would have to know the alternative routes and traffic conditions on them.
“The alternative routes to Freeway No. 5 are Highway No. 2 and Highway No. 9, but drivers would want to know which route would get them to their destinations the fastest from where they are,” Lin said. “This information should be available, but it would be a hassle and dangerous for drivers to switch between apps to find it.”
“Therefore, it was necessary to integrate the apps so people can make informed decisions,” he said.
The Freeway 1968 app has been downloaded about 3.8 million times and the Highway to Happiness app more than 1 million times, he said, adding that their combined data allow more drivers to access traffic updates.
The ministry has investigated every avenue to tackle congestion issues on Freeway No. 5, Lin said.
However, whether they are effective would only be determined after they are tested over the holidays, he said.
Motorists can help ease congestion by using the apps to plan their routes and complying with the bureau’s measures, he said.
The apps would provide drivers estimated travel times to help them decide whether to use Highway No. 9 between New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) and Yilan County’s Toucheng Township (頭城), or alternative routes between Toucheng and Keelung’s Nuannuan District (暖暖), the bureau said.
Drivers can find expected travel times if they want to travel from Sun Yat-Sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) or the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3) to reach the Nangang (南港) Interchange in Taipei to access Freeway No. 5, including congestion data for feeder roads on southbound and northbound lanes, the bureau said.
For drivers who are not familiar with alternative routes, a Google GPS icon under the name of the route is displayed on the apps, it said.
Freeway Bureau Director-General Chao Hsin-hua (趙興華) said that traffic volumes on Freeway No. 5 over the summer rose by 20 percent on weekdays and 24 percent on weekends.
As 50 percent of the vehicles that exit the Hsuehshan Tunnel access the Suhua Highway, the Freeway 1968 app has been updated to provide reports for travel between Suao (蘇澳) and Dongao (東澳) townships in Yilan, Chao said.
Similar information is available on the Highway to Happiness app, the DGH said.
Among other measures, the bureau is to close the Shiding (石碇) and Pinglin (坪林) interchanges at certain hours and enforce a high-occupancy vehicle policy from 6am rather than 7am to ensure smooth traffic flow on Freeway No. 5, Lin said.
The DGH urged people to use public transport to help ease traffic on the long weekends, adding that there would be discounts on express bus services from Taipei to the east coast.
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