TPP's Ko outlines transportation policy proposals

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's "living hell" for pedestrians should be remedied by introducing sweeping revisions of traffic rules and conducting periodic follow-up reviews of road safety improvement measures, Taiwan People's Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Tuesday.

Taiwan recorded more than 3,000 traffic-related fatalities in 2022, and CNN last year branded Taiwan a "living hell" for pedestrians, Ko told a news conference where he outlined his traffic-related policy proposals.

Taiwan's traffic rules are mostly "driver-oriented" and should be amended so they are more "people-oriented," the former Taipei mayor said, without going into detail.

A national "traffic improvement conference" attended by experts should be held to identify traffic problems and come up with improvement plans for local governments, Ko said.

The efficacy of those plans should be assessed and each city and county should be required to publish the number of traffic fatalities every six months, so as to put pressure on local governments, he said.

Other ways to lower traffic-related fatalities include making the road test and written test to obtain a driving license harder and shortening the time before drivers are required to renew their license, he said.

Meanwhile, Ko said, major transportation projects should not be reduced to empty slogans whenever elections come around.

The TPP founder criticized the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for writing a "bounced check" for the proposed Keelung light rail project, which he said was what first caused him to fall out with the DPP.

The DPP administration earmarked funding of NT$8 billion for the planned light rail under the Cabinet's Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, but the estimated cost later ballooned to NT$69.7 billion, Ko said.

With the increased estimated cost, he did not see any chance that construction of the proposed light rail could be completed, Ko said.

However, when he criticized the plan to build the light rail, the DPP acted as if it was just putting on a show and he should not have taken the issue seriously, Ko said.

Similarly, Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the DPP's presidential candidate, pledged to extend Taichung's mass rapid transit system to Nantou County, which showed he "wasn't using his head" when he made the promise, Ko added.

Other transportation-related issues highlighted by Ko included insufficient use of data which causes inefficiency in planning the number of flights and the slow progress made on building a third terminal and runway at Taoyuan International Airport.

Ko said he supports closing Taipei Songshan Airport and freeing up the site for other uses, but to do so the loss of capacity must be offset by Taoyuan International Airport, Taichung International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport.

To that end, it is crucial that the planned third terminal at the Taoyuan airport becomes operational, he said.

Asked by a reporter how rush-hour traffic congestion in Taipei's Neihu District can be resolved, Ko said the problem will have to wait until the completion of the MRT Circular Line or the imposition of an eTag electronic tolling system on all incoming vehicles during rush hour.

Improving traffic in Neihu was one of Ko's major undertakings when he was Taipei mayor, for which his administration put forward several solutions, all of which came to nothing after encountering opposition from the Taipei City Council or the public.