Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) on Saturday said she had received numerous complaints about advertisements on the seats of Taipei MRT metropolitan railway trains.
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) has been putting ads on MRT seats, which ruins the aesthetic of the trains and turns them into “telephone poles pasted with random flyers,” she said, adding that many commuters told her that using seats for ad space was “weird.”
Chen questioned the efficacy of the ads, saying that as passengers would be sitting on them, they would not be visible.
Photo provided by Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun
“If the trains are full, nobody is going to see the ads. If they are empty, nobody is going to see the ads. So, what is the point?” she said.
Chen said the colors used for the ads did not match the colors of the seats or the train carriages, making the ads unpleasant to look at.
“Another problem is that the writing on the ads — which are for products such as air compressors, toiletries and massage chairs — is so small that older people cannot read them,” she said. “They might mistakenly think the ad is a notice telling them not to sit on the chair.”
Photo provided by Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun
Chen said that TRTC should find a way to balance the needs of advertisers and commuters to maximize the effectiveness of ads, without inconveniencing riders.
TRTC said that it had commissioned an ad agency to come up with a creative way of advertising on the trains.
The seat ads are being used on 13 trains, with 250 ads per train, it said, adding that companies paid between NT$11.5 million and NT$12 million (US$386,490 and US$403,294) for the ads.
TRTC said it would make improvements to its methods of advertising, adding that people should feel free to sit on seats with ads on them.
‘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
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS