The Taipei City Government has added 16 electric buses to its fleet, in a push to cut carbon emissions and noise pollution, the Taipei Department of Transportation told a news conference on Monday.
Shin-Shin Bus, a bus operator, has replaced 16 diesel-powered buses, which served the 236 and 251 shuttle lines, with electric vehicles, department Director Chen Hsueh-tai (陳學台) said, adding that the move was part of a planned decommissioning of aging buses.
Under the Executive Yuan directive for replacing all urban public buses with electric vehicles by 2030, Taipei began introducing electric buses to its fleet in 2018 and expects to have put 529 electric buses on the road by 2022, he said.
Photo: Tsai Szu-pei, Taipei Times
Prices for diesel-engined buses, which cost about NT$5 million (US$175,396) per vehicle, are initially cheaper than electric buses, but they pollute, require more expensive servicing and are more expensive to operate, Chen said.
Due to engine noise and vibrations, they are less comfortable for passengers, he added.
Electric buses cost from NT$10 million to NT$12 million, but they save costs, and offer more comfort and safety, he said.
Advanced driver-assistance system, which are standard on electric buses, could warn the driver of dangerous situations, for example when the gap between the bus and other vehicles is too small, when the driver unintentionally leaves a lane or drives at excessive speed, Chen said.
Taipei’s low-floored diesel buses are typically used for eight years, while properly maintained electric buses are expected to remain in service for about 12 years, he said.
Taipei this year granted subsidies to bus operators for the purchase of 258 electric buses and requested central government subsidies for 223 more vehicles, in a bid to meet the 2022 targets, Chen said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
RSS