Smooth traffic reported on national freeways on day 2 of long weekend

Taipei, March 1 (CNA) Clear roads and light traffic were reported on freeways around Taiwan by the Freeway Bureau's 1968 real-time traffic monitoring service Saturday, the second day of the 228 long weekend.

As of Saturday morning at around 11:30 a.m., most of Taiwan's freeway network showed green, indicating light traffic, with vehicles able to travel steadily at speeds above 80 kilometers per hour.

Only a few yellow-colored roadways, indicating vehicle speeds of between 60 km/h and 80 km/h, and even fewer orange-colored roadways, indicating vehicle speeds of between 40 km/h and 60 km/h, appeared on the monitoring system.

The only road sections showing red or purple, signaling backed-up traffic, were on northbound sections of National Freeway 1 between Sanchong and Xizhi and southbound lanes on National Freeway 3 between Shulin and Yingge in northern Taiwan.

There was also a tie-up on southbound lanes of Provincial Highway 74 connecting to the No. 3 freeway.

In a press release Saturday, the Freeway Bureau said there were 5.1 million vehicle kilometers traveled (vkt) on Taiwan's freeways between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m., about 30 percent busier than the annual average on weekdays.

The bureau forecast that due to the nice weather on Saturday, traffic volume could reach around 115 million vkt, adding that freeways had recorded a total of 8.9 million vkt by 7 a.m.

Among the freeway sections expected to see congestion on Saturday were the southbound sections on National Freeway 1 on the Yangmei-Toufen section and the Changhua System-Puyan System section.

The northbound section on the freeway that could experience traffic jams was the Yuanshan-Dahua System in northern Taiwan, the bureau said.

The southbound parts of National Freeway 3 that could see heavy traffic were the Tucheng-Guanxi section in the north and the Kuaiguan-Wufeng and Caotun-Mingjian sections in central Taiwan, the bureau said.

Segments of National Freeway 5 that could see traffic congestion were southbound lanes between Nangang and Toucheng and northbound lanes between Yilan and Pinglin, in both cases including the 12.9-kilometer Hsuehshan Tunnel.

For regular updates on traffic conditions, motorists can check the 1968 real-time traffic monitoring service website.