The government’s TPass monthly mass public transportation program launched yesterday in metropolitan areas with authorities saying that the true test of the system would be with greater passenger volumes tomorrow.
As of Friday, nearly 180,000 people had bought TPasses by adding value to their prepaid transit cards, including 71,551 people in the northern region, 18,221 in the central region and 90,203 in the southern region, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
Moreover, nearly 100,000 new TPasses — 74,917 in the north, 16,912 in the central region and 8,282 in the south — had been purchased, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
The passes are unavailable in eastern areas, as well as Hsinchu city and county, and outlying counties, it said.
In Taoyuan, as of noon yesterday, about 2,000 passengers boarded the Taoyuan Airport MRT using TPass, with the A1, A8 and A7 stations showing the most activity, Taoyuan Department of Transportation director-general Chang Hsin-fu (張新福) said.
A problem occurred at Taoyuan Railway Station, where senior citizen MRT cards were incompatible with TPass readers, Chang said, adding that station personnel resolved the issue by manually opening gates for people whose cards would not work.
The true test would be tomorrow’s rush times, he said.
TPass works with Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), MRT, shared bike and many bus services in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, officials said.
The Taipei Department of Transportation said it expects more than 40,000 people to buy new TPass cards tomorrow and 340,000 by the end of the month.
TPass cannot be used for Puyuma Express, Taroko Express, EMU3000 and rail tour services, TRA deputy head of transportation operations Chen Jung-pin (陳榮彬) said.
The three TPass regions cover Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Keelung for NT$1,200 per month; Taichung, and Miaoli, Nantou and Changhua counties for NT$699 for Taichung residents or NT$999 for non-Taichung residents; and Kaohsiung, Tainan and Pingtung County for NT$999 per month.
The TPass scheme was launched under the government’s NT$380 billion (US$12.2 billion) post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery package, which was passed by lawmakers on March 24.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung’s monthly citywide NT$399 public transport pass was expanded yesterday to cover TRA services within city limits, the Kaohsiung Transportation Bureau said.
In related news, the Tourism Bureau launched the Taiwan Tour Buses program in collaboration with 22 tourism agencies providing 83 tour packages until the end of this year.
Every two people who buy a package can add a third person free of charge, the Tourism Bureau said, adding that the service is aimed at boosting domestic and international tourism.
Taiwan Tour Buses provides a tour guide, bus driver and meals depending on the package, said Tsai Tsung-sheng (蔡宗昇), deputy head of the Tourism Bureau’s domestic travel division.
The minimum number required for tour groups is kept low and some packages can be offered as guided tours for a single person, Tsai said.
The buses are designed to enable people to easily find lodging, dining, shopping and other transportation options, the Tourism Bureau said, adding that it hopes the program would facilitate the post-pandemic recovery of the tourism industry.
Additional reporting by Ting Yi
‘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
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
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
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