Taichung City continues to promote the optimization of its bus route network, building a public transportation network with trunk bus lines and rail transit as the backbone and feeder connections as support. This provides greater convenience for commuting, attending school, leisure travel, and transfers, while delivering smart dispatching and attentive service. Director-General Chao-Fu Yeh of the Transportation Bureau of Taichung City Government stated that bus services are tailored to demand in each area, with priority given to the needs of citizens, while also helping improve the working environment for bus drivers. As of March this year, the total number of drivers in the city had rebounded to 1,265, with younger newcomers joining the ranks and together serving 239 city bus routes, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness of public transportation. Director-General Yeh pointed out that Taichung City currently has 1,259 city buses in operation, with an average of more than 220,000 services per month and more than 5 million kilometers traveled. Ridership is close to 7 million passenger trips, providing bus services to residents in the mountain, coastal, Tun, and urban areas. The Transportation Bureau has already promoted trunk bus services along six major corridors, namely Fuxing Road, Zhongxing Road, Taiwan Boulevard, Zhongqing Road, Chongde Road, and Beitun Road. Together with the metro and railway systems, these routes form the urban public transportation trunk network, enhancing transport efficiency along major corridors, cultivating stable ridership, establishing a public transportation oriented urban development model, easing human resource pressures in the transportation industry, and maximizing service effectiveness. Regarding the launch of all six trunk bus lines in Taichung City, Director-General Yeh said that following the introduction of the Green Line Metro and the trunk bus services, the Transportation Bureau has continued to conduct rolling reviews of the route operations of various bus operators, integrating route resources that run parallel to the trunk bus lines. Some routes have been adjusted in their mid sections to detour through surrounding areas of the trunk corridors and provide services to emerging communities, while others have been reassigned to suburban routes to strengthen public transportation services. In addition, the Transportation Bureau has promoted bus dynamic information and MaaS mobility services, and provides the Taichung Go app for the public to check the most convenient and time saving bus routes. The Transportation Bureau noted that in the past, the departure and turnaround points of Taichung bus routes were mostly not located at the off street dispatch stations of bus operators. Buses often had to stop temporarily near route terminals while waiting for their next departure, and the rest and washroom facilities there were not as complete as those available inside dispatch stations. This was one of the reasons for driver turnover. The Transportation Bureau and bus operators have reviewed the operating conditions of each route and the locations of dispatch stations, and have successively adjusted Routes 56, 59, 60, 61, 63, 95 branch, 301, 302, 303, 305, 308, 309, 355, 360, and 695 so that they enter dispatch stations through route adjustments, while also strengthening public transportation services for communities surrounding those stations. Director-General Yeh explained that some bus routes in the early years had excessively long operating times and often linked multiple different areas. After years of change, and due to the constraints of full line dispatching, these routes were no longer able to fully meet the travel needs of each area. The Transportation Bureau has actively guided bus operators in response to operational development and launched route enhancement planning. This includes converting some services of former Highway Bus Route 325 into the shortened Route 360 to strengthen services for the Dadu Mountain area, Xitun area, and transfers along Taiwan Boulevard, and splitting Route 75 into the urban section Route 75 and the Taiping section Route 241, allowing services to reach more areas while also reducing drivers’ workload intensity. The Transportation Bureau stated that, according to current estimates, the required number of driver positions should be 1,420. At present, there are 1,265 drivers, leaving a shortfall of about 10 percent. Through repeated route adjustments, consolidation, and optimization, the city has improved the driver friendly working environment and allocated resources more precisely, producing clear results in the recovery of driver staffing. Whether for urban commuting, remote area feeder services, or even the Lishan area of Heping District at an average elevation of 2,000 meters, buses reach every corner of the city. By leveraging a comprehensive route network and smart dispatching, Taichung is building a more complete public transportation network.