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Keelung Mayoral Candidate Outlines Transportation Reform Plan Focused on Public Transit

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Keelung mayoral candidate and city council speaker, Tong Tzu-wei, outlined a transportation reform plan focusing on public transit upgrades.
  • The plan includes replacing old buses with low-floor, electric, and accessible models, and improving bus routes and schedules.
  • It also proposes enhancing national highway commuting options, including increasing bus frequencies and improving infrastructure.

Keelung mayoral candidate and current city council speaker, Tong Tzu-wei, has unveiled a comprehensive transportation reform plan aimed at alleviating the city's chronic traffic congestion. Addressing the daily commute of approximately 100,000 residents, Tong emphasized the need to upgrade public transportation as a key strategy to reduce reliance on private vehicles.

Bus reform must be a comprehensive upgrade from 'new network, new fleet, new treatment, new intelligence' to create public transportation that truly meets the needs of Keelung's residents.

— Tong Tzu-weiKeelung mayoral candidate Tong Tzu-wei described his vision for upgrading the city's bus system.

The plan prioritizes the city's bus system, which Tong described as plagued by aging vehicles, insufficient routes, and inconvenient schedules. He proposes a complete overhaul, including the rapid replacement of old buses with low-floor, accessible, and electric models, alongside the integration of smart electronic signage at bus stops. This initiative, framed as a "new network, new fleet, new treatment, new intelligence," aims to create a public transport system that truly meets Keelung residents' needs.

For commuters traveling between Keelung and the greater Taipei area, Tong's team has developed short, medium, and long-term solutions. Short-term measures involve government collaboration with bus operators to increase peak-hour services and establish dedicated "Keelung departures" to ensure commuters from all seven districts can secure seats. Medium-term goals include widening national highways and improving interchanges and weaving systems. The long-term vision entails advocating for elevated highways to effectively separate long and short-distance traffic flows, thereby ensuring smoother commutes.

The key to Keelung's traffic is upgrading public transportation nodes, coordinating with road network restructuring and YouBike shared bicycles, to alleviate traffic congestion.

— Tong Tzu-weiTong Tzu-wei emphasized the importance of integrated transportation planning for Keelung.

Tong stressed that these proposals have undergone extensive discussion with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Directorate-General of Highways, and relevant experts, confirming their feasibility. He believes that by making public transportation more convenient and reliable, more citizens will opt for it, consequently reducing private vehicle usage and easing congestion on national highways. Tong positioned himself as a "working mayor" committed to tackling Keelung's most pressing issues, starting with transportation, to drive the city's progress.

We must solve the problem of 'not being able to get on the bus' first. The government will cooperate with bus operators to increase services during peak hours and plan for 'Keelung departures' so that commuters from all seven districts can get on the bus smoothly.

— Tong Tzu-weiTong Tzu-wei detailed his short-term plan to address commuter challenges.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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