Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/13
By: Ku Chuan and Ko Lin
Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. President B.C. Yen (顏邦傑) said Tuesday that a
CNA file photo
plan to issue a NT$2,500 (US$78.6) monthly unlimited use pass for Taipei’s mass rapid transit system will not be implemented Jan. 1 next year as scheduled.
“The plan for a MRT monthly pass has been cancelled,” Yen said, adding that 60-percent discounts for early commuters on the MRT line serving Neihu District will also be scrapped after a three-month pilot run that began in August.
Meanwhile, Taipei City government deputy spokeswoman Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆) also confirmed that the monthly pass project has been postponed until a more concrete plan can be designed by the city’s Department of Transportation.
The initiative was aimed at encouraging greater use of public transportation and cutting costs for less privileged workers who have to commute from suburban areas to the city center, but the plan has been criticized by city councilors and daily commuters for its high price tag. [SOURCE]
