Tour bus trade associations yesterday issued a statement criticizing the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for requiring tour buses to install a GPS tracking system and card reader, saying they planned to protest on Aug. 26.
After a bus in 2017 crashed on the freeway and killed 33 people, mostly elderly people on a day trip organized by Iris Travel Service Co (蝶戀花), the ministry has subsidized the installation of GPS tracking systems on 10,856 tour buses. The driver was speeding and possibly overworked.
A real-time GPS tracker issues a warning if a bus is traveling at an abnormal speed, if the driver has been driving for too long, if the bus entered a no-travel section or if the bus is overdue for a service.
Photo: CNA
The ministry said it is considering whether to require card readers to be installed on tour buses to confirm drivers’ identities and working hours.
New Taipei City Touring-bus Craft Union for the Drivers president Hsu Ching-hsiang (許景翔) and Taiwan Tourism Bus Carrier Development Association president Lee Shih-chia (李式嘉) yesterday issued a statement, saying that “practical” education and training for drivers is more crucial.
Intercepting GPS signals from the buses runs counter to freedom of private communications, which is protected by the Constitution, so bus companies should only be required to provide GPS tracking data to investigators after a serious accident occurs, the statement said.
The Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) covers regulations for labors’ working hours, so the working hour limits set by the ministry’s Highway Bureau are confusing, the statement said.
Hsu said he is not against tour buses installing a GPS tracker and a card reader, but they should be managed by the bus firms and fully paid for by the ministry, as the installation fee for a GPS tracker is about NT$4,000 and the rental fee is about NT$160 per month.
The bureau has been planning to offer bus driving courses in mountainous areas and on freeways for inexperienced drivers, said Liang Kuo-kuo (梁郭國), director of the bureau’s Transportation Division.
It must first reach a consensus with the Federation of Highway and Intercity Bus Companies in Taiwan on the content of the training courses, he said.
The bureau would continue to discuss the issue of access to GPS tracking data with trade associations and unions before making it a regulation, Liang said.
Once the GPS tracking systems are installed, the bureau would assist the companies in enhancing safety management and improving public safety outcomes, he said.
As for bus drivers’ working hours, the Transportation Management Regulations (汽車運輸業管理規則) govern driving and rest time requirements for bus drivers, with the Labor Standards Act as a guideline, but taking into account job characteristics and safety, the bureau said.
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