At today's Cabinet meeting, Premier Jiang Yi-huah thanked the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Defense for their hard work during the Lunar New Year holidays to carry out traffic control plans and ensure smooth traffic flow for citizens.
"The traffic control scheme during the holidays was successfully completed, but improvements can still be made as traffic jams and bottlenecks were seen in some areas," Jiang said.
Public transportation ridership over the holidays grew overall this year thanks to the MOTC's planning and promotion of relevant programs, he noted. The Taiwan Railways Administration was singled out for recognition, as it operated additional trains and train cars during peak hours, and the new Puyuma Express tilting trains coupled with timely deployment on the Hualien-Taitung line significantly increased rider capacity and doubled the number of tourists to eastern Taiwan.
As for freeways, traffic load hit a record high during the holidays, posing more control challenges. Ramp meters might be the cause for congestion in some sections, and Jiang directed the MOTC to address this issue during the next extended holiday.
Some of the new freeway measures launched this year have drawn public concern, including distance-based toll collection and extended toll-free hours during the holiday, the premier pointed out. He asked the MOTC to review the results of such policies to better plan future traffic control.