Translated by Cara Steenstra

News released by Government Information Office

Release Date: 2006-05-11

Taichung City Government carried out inspections of all city bus routes between April 28 and 30, 2006, and found that over 1/3 of the buses were either late, behind schedule or entirely off the schedule. Buses were not running according to the planned schedules, and the situation was pretty serious, with a pass rate of only 67%. After an emergency meeting with the bus companies, operators were asked to follow their operation plans accordingly. The City Government has also issued 26 penalty ticket letter of advice to operators, which operators will need to reply within a certain date. If these letters are not replied, a fine of NT$9000 will be issued for each ticket in the hopes of improving the situation.

Since the results of this first wave of inspection, the City Government's Transportation Bureau will continue its efforts in this matter. Another inspection took place between May 1 and 7, with a total of 190 separate inspections. The ratio of late, behind schedule or missing from schedule buses was 25%. The overall pass rate was approximately 75%. Although there were still incidences of irregularity, some improvements were still seen. Any failure to comply with regulations will still be fined accordingly. The Taichung City Government Transportation Bureau also held a meeting with bus operators on May 12, and discussed the re-routing that had been decided during the May 3 meeting. It is hoped that bus routes would be more effectively run to avoid wastage of resources but also to provide better services to the citizens of Taichung by improving the overall quality of bus services in Taichung city.

Although improvements have been made since the inspections, there is room for improvement. The City Government's Transportation Bureau will continue to carry out inspections, as well as demand that bus operators keep tighter control over their bus running schedules. Also, citizens are encouraged to take note of any city buses that are running late or behind schedule, they should mark down the bus stop, time and route details and email the information to p0000@tccg.gov.tw or call (04) 22289111 ext.1641-1643. The information will be passed on the Transportation Bureau to help improve the quality of bus services.