The Transportation Bureau of Taichung City Government has newly developed Bus Route 86 (Taichung Station – Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital – Taichung Station) to promote healthcare transport services. This new route, which will be launched today (on the 29th) at 12 p.m., is the first city bus route of Kuo-Kuang Bus in Taichung with a fixed route and trips. It links Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital, Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital Zhongqing Branch, schools, residential communities, MRT stations, and railway stations to facilitate commuting and seeking medical care for the citizens of Taichung. We encourage those with needs to make use of this new bus service.
Director General of Transportation Bureau Yeh Chao-Fu expresses that the Transportation Bureau pays great attention to bus availability around medical institutions in recent years. At the moment, there is no direct bus connecting the Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital located in Taiping District and the Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital Zhongqing Branch located in North District, and people traveling between these destinations are required to transfer. Therefore, the launch of Route 86 will facilitate the travel between these two sites. Moreover, a number of multifamily residential communities have been built at Songzhuwu Road in Beitun District, resulting in an increasing need for public transportation, in recent years. The newly developed Route 86 will provide more convenience to people living in these areas should they need to catch the bus.
Director Yeh expresses that Route 86 departs from the Taichung Bus Terminal, passes through Taiwan Boulevard, Minquan Road, Zhongming Road, the Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital Zhongqing Branch, Zhongqing Road, Wenxin Road, Section 2 of Songzhuwu Road, Jungong Road and Taiyuan Road and the Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital located in Taiping District; and then returns to the Taichung Bus Terminal along the same route. Apart from the Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital Zhongqing Branch and the Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital Zhongqing Branch Zhongqing Branch, Route 86 also stops at a number of public transportation hubs and schools -- including Taichung Station, MRT Wenxin-Zhongqing Station, MRT Wenxin-Chongde Station, Stella Matutina Girls' High School, Wenxin Elementary School, Sihwei Elementary School, Dongguang Elementary School, Wagor High School and Jungong Elementary School -- to provide everyone along the route an alternative solution for commuting.
Transportation Bureau adds that, due to the pandemic, the three airport express bus routes operated by Jasun Bus and Kuo-Kuang Bus -- Routes A1, A2 and A3 -- have suspended their reservation service since May 20 of last year. To optimize the use of limited public transportation resources, the low-decker vehicles originally allocated to Kuo-Kuang Bus for operating Routes A2 and A3 will be utilized by Route 86 and two city bus routes (including Route 289) taken over by Kuo-Kuang Bus. Therefore, the operations of Routes A1, A2 and A3 will be discontinued starting from today.
The Transportation Bureau explains that, apart from the main line that operates from 06:00 to 22:00, Route 86 also has two additional shifts of inter-zone bus trips each day. Route 289, on the other hand, operates from 5:40 to 20:10. The services of these two routes are equipped with low-decker or barrier-free vehicles to facilitate the accessibility to the vehicle in terms of safety and convenience. For more information, please visit the “Taichung City Real-Time Bus Information” website (http://citybus.taichung.gov.tw/) or download the Taichung Bus APP ( https://is.gd/MTPvdg). If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call the free hotline 1999.