Hualien-Taitung Freeway Unlikely

The Directorate-General of Highways has announced the results of a study into building a freeway between Hualien and Taitung. Launched because of worries that the new Su-ao-Hualien highway will bring more cars into the east than the region's roads can handle, the study found that the current road system should in fact be adequate. It also found that the freeway would cost NT90 billion (US$2.8 billion, roughly US$17 million/km at 160km long) and take six years to complete.
Although the freeway likely won't be built, this is a good example of how driving infrastructure begets more driving infrastructure, with new freeways drawing in more drivers, who clog other connecting roads and drive calls for even more freeways. In this specific case, although Taiwan's east isn't especially dense, it's still very well suited to mass transit, with the vast majority of the population living within a few kilometers from the rail line (well, except in Taitung City...). Perhaps the best thing the government could do for mobility in the east at this point is rebuild the branch to Taitung, which after all is the most popular destination between Hualien City and Pingtung.

Setback for the Dansui-Taipei Freeway

Last week a Taipei court rejected the Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed freeway linking Danshui to Guandu.  Specifically the court found that the committee that issued the EIA failed to determine whether construction would damage the Mangrove Forest Conservation Area, and that the committee lacked sufficient information to make a ruling.  Eric Chu, the mayor of New Taipei, was unfazed, and promised to continue construction "because the EIA approval is still valid."
This freeway, planned to be 4.7 km long and cost NT$4.6 billion (for a cost of NT$978 million/US$33 million per km) has been controversial from the beginning, in part because of concerns about its impact on the mangroves, and also because residents in Guandu worry that it will cause more traffic.  There are in fact a lot of good reasons to doubt whether this project is beneficial.  For one thing, new freeways tend to draw passengers away from mass transit and encourage new development, which in turn means they fill up with new congestion rather than eliminate it.  Furthermore, New Taipei is already planning on building the Danjiang Bridge between Danshui and Bali, which should absorb some of the traffic that currently passes between Danshui and Guandu.  Rather than build both, perhaps the government should consider if only one would be sufficient to reduce traffic (I would favor the Danjiang Bridge since at least it offers a new route and would include a light rail line).
Then there's mass transit.  This corridor is uniquely well-suited to mass transit because all traffic from Danshui and Sanzhi to Taipei is funneled through one narrow area.  This means it's easy for it to become congested, while cars' ability to take passengers point-to-point less relevant because everyone is following the same route anyway.  Furthermore, there is already an underused mass transit line following this corridor: the MRT's Danshui Line.  Doubling the number of the trains on the line, thereby cutting waiting times in half, would presumably attract some of the traffic from the current road.  Doing so would be far less environmentally damaging than building a new freeway, and possibly cheaper as well- even if Danshui station needed to be expanded to turn trains (and I don't think it would- Nanshijiao and Nangang Exhibition Hall seem to do fine with just two tracks), the impact should be much lower than building a freeway.  Even if that wasn't an option, the city is already planning two light rail lines in Danshui that will funnel people coming from farther out to the MRT, making mass transit a more convenient alternative to driving.  The city could also consider more frequent bus feeder lines connecting to MRT stations, or even expand parking lots at MRT stations to encourage people to at least not drive down the Danshui-Guandu road.
The fact that congestion on this corridor is a problem also reveals how problematic the Danhai New Town development is.  Encouraging more people to move to Danshui will simply further increase traffic along the only road leading to Taipei, as well as create more sprawl.  It would make much more sense to focus development in areas that are linked to Taipei by more than a single road.
Simply put, there are many alternatives to building a freeway between Danshui and Taipei that would have less impact on the environment.  In general, building more roads will just attract more drivers, not "solve" traffic- especially if Danshui continues to attract new residents.  Rather than create sprawl by encouraging people to move to distant parts of the Taipei metropolitan region, and then build driving-enducing, environmentally damaging freeways to serve those people, the government would be better off providing better mass transit to places where people currently live.  With more mass transit there would be less need for parking and wide roads, and more space for parks and sidewalks.

Kaohsiung City Councilor Spreads Mass Transit Non-Sequitors

Kaohsiung is planning a light rail line to complement its high-capacity MRT system.  For those who don't know, light rail usually refers to any urban rail system that runs on ground level.  Light rail systems are often also called trams or streetcars.  Kaohsiung's would form a loop around the center of the city.
I think there are legitimate questions to be asked about what direction Kaohsiung should go in with its mass transit system, and whether or not it should build this light rail line.  But Kaohsiung City Councilor Xiao Yongda (蕭永達), the lone city councilor to oppose the light rail line, did not address these issues.  Instead he told made unsupported arguments such as:
-All developed cities with light rail are in cold climates, so people are unable to ride scooters like in Kaohsiung.  This is outright false: San Fransisco, Pheonix, Hong Kong, and numerous other cities in the US and southern Europe all have warm climates and light rail.  Light rail cars can be air-conditioned, which would be far more comfortable in summer than driving a scooter.  Light rail can also be more comfortable during typhoons.
-Light rail would lose money like the rest of the MRT system.  Roads also lose money but no one seems to make a big deal about that.
-Level crossings with roads will lead to more accidents.  What leads to accidents in Taiwan is driving.  I very much doubt that other cities which have extensive light rail/ tram systems have worse traffic safety records than Kaohsiung.
-Kaohsiung's "DNA" is different.  This isn't even really an argument, just an assertion.  Xiao fails to explain what about Kaohsiung is so different that a form of transportation used all over Europe, Asia and America would fail in Kaohsiung.

New Taipei and World Car Free Day

Although most residents of Taiwan probably didn’t notice, last Saturday was World Car Free Day, intended to demonstrate that life is not only possible without cars, but better.  Many cities celebrate by banning cars from downtown streets or providing public transit discounts.  New Taipei had another idea however: making it easier for people to drive to an MRT station.

Specifically, the New Taipei Department of Transportation announced that one of their new measures to encourage “green transit” will be increasing car parking space near Dingxi MRT station.  For those who don’t know, Dingxi is one of only two rail stations in Yonghe district, which has 230,000 residents and 40,000 people per km2, the highest population density of any district or city in Taiwan, and is therefore singularly ill-suited to cars.  Dingxi is unsurprisingly one of the most heavily trafficked stations in the Taipei MRT, ranking 14^th out of 89 stations in 2011 and averaging over 26,000 riders a day.  As anyone who has passed through Dingxi can attest, the crowds of people using the station walk there or take a bus, and what’s really needed is more sidewalk space to relieve the pedestrian gridlock on Yonghe Road.  Increasing space for driving will only encourage people to drive more and make walking more inconvenient- in other words will undermine the very goals of World Car Free Day- and regardless will only benefit a small fraction of the people who use Dingxi station.

New Taipei’s other new measures for World Car Free Day are less ridiculous and more banal.  Aside from Dingxi, the Department of Transportation chose two other rail stations- Danshui and Jingtong, in Pingxi- to be “green stations”.  Improvements planned include better pedestrian signage at Danshui and more bicycle “space” at Dingxi (no idea if that means lanes or parking space).  Another “improvement” is more plantings at all three stations, certainly a nice touch but of dubious environmental value.