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.
‘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