Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) has pledged to launch a bus reservation system if he is elected Taipei mayor, but his critics said the proposal was impractical.
Chiang, the KMT’s candidate for Taipei mayor in the Nov. 26 local elections, on Friday said he has discussed with New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT a plan to establish a “Taipei-New Taipei City transportation committee,” which could offer new ideas on ticketing and bus services.
He said the two cities’ bus routes could be better integrated and public transportation stations’ resources could be shared.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Bus services could include an online bus reservation system, allowing people with disabilities, elderly people, pregnant women, and parents with a stroller to take the bus safely and comfortably, Chiang said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), who manages DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung’s (陳時中) election campaign, yesterday said Chiang’s proposal is difficult to understand.
Chiang speaks as if his “life experience is similar to that of ordinary citizens,” Wu said, urging him to explain how his plan can be executed.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
She asked how seats on a bus full of passengers during rush hour can be reserved.
Some elderly or less privileged people could be less digitally literate, so they might not be able to reserve a bus seat online, Wu said.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), a potential candidate for Taipei mayor, said every candidate can put forth policy ideas, but the plans should be responsible and executable.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Taipei and New Taipei City already have joint programs, including a monthly public transportation pass, she said, adding that Taipei also has a “leaping frog” system, in which buses run through remote or mountainous areas where demand is weaker and allow passengers to make reservations.
It would be difficult for people to make reservations for metro buses, which run at shorter intervals and often carry many passengers, Huang said.
“I wonder if people should make reservations for Mass Rapid Transit trains too?” she asked.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party candidate for Taipei city councilor Wu Hsin-tai (吳欣岱) wrote on Facebook that Chiang’s proposal was “meaningless,” as metro buses might arrive at bus stations at irregular times, depending on traffic.
She asked what passengers would do if they make a bus reservation, but another bus that travels to the same destination arrives first, or if a bus arrives, but the passengers who made the reservation are not at the station, or whether a reserved seat should be left unoccupied if a passenger with a reservation does not take the bus.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS