Ridership on the TRA dropped 8% in 2016 compared to 2015. This is massive and, given that most of that ridership probably went to driving and buses, a bad sign for Taiwan's air quality, traffic congestion, and safety, to say nothing of global warming. Most of the drop occurred on express trains.
It is difficult to say why this happened. The Legislative Yuan report cited by the Taipei Times attributes it to inefficiency making the TRA uncompetitive, citing in particular staff shortages. I haven't noticed any deterioration in service over the past couple of years so I am suspicious of this reasoning. Moreover, competitiveness is a two-sided coin- if the central government invests in making driving more competitive but ignores the TRA, people will start driving. I can't help but suspect that continued freeway expansion is the main culprit.
This is yet more evidence that TRA is the most neglected part of Taiwan's rail system. This is a mistake, as the TRA is the best option for efficient regional rail (e.g. Taipei-Keelung, Taichung-Changhua, Kaohsiung-Pingdong, etc.), and can provide good service to towns that otherwise aren't large enough to justify a metro line.
Article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/12/10/2003683742
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