Ko Wen-je and Lin Yu-chang Push for Nangang to Keelung MRT

One of Ko Wen-je's first moves after being elected mayor of Taipei was declaring support for a Nangang to Keelung MRT line, as part of a plan to build "youth housing" in Keelung. Although extending the MRT to Keelung seems to make sense and appears to be popular in Xizhi and Keelung, it hasn't gone anywhere- and for good reason.
For one thing, the route is already served by the TRA. Yes, the MRT is a good deal more pleasant and better-run, but given that MRT is supposed to stop at least once every two kilometers it's hard to see how it could be as fast as the TRA, even allowing for lower headways. What's more, the TRA is already slower than freeway buses, at least during off-peak.
There's also the question of demand: it isn't clear that enough people want to travel between Keelung and Taipei to justify an additional rail line. Even Keelung Station doesn't get a whole lot of ridership, with 6.5 million rides last year- about the same as Yingge and far fewer than Shulin, Taoyuan or Zhongli. Except for Songshan all the other stations between Taipei and Keelung have even fewer passengers.
Even if we assume there is sufficient unmet demand, the case for a new MRT line isn't obvious. Increasing capacity on the TRA could be sufficient, and would avoid the steep price tag of a whole new MRT line. The government has already taken some steps to do this, by adding a third track to a section of the TRA line near Nangang, but there are still only 11 trains per direction during rush hour- far fewer than many other similar rail systems manage in other countries. Longer trains could also be considered, as well as larger doors and level boarding to speed passenger flow and shorten dwell times. If capacity really does hit a maximum, perhaps it would be possible to add even more 3-track segments, 3-track the whole line, or rebuild curvy sections to shorten travel time. This would be expensive, but it would presumably still be cheaper than a whole new MRT line, and would provide much better connectivity with the rest of the TRA system. Turning lanes on the freeway into bus-only lanes could also increase the transportation capacity between Taipei and Keelung.
If bus lanes and upgrading the TRA isn't enough, then an MRT line would make sense- but not for bringing people from Keelung to Taipei. An MRT line could provide local, short distance service, with connections to major TRA stations providing transfers to TRA trains, which would provide express service. Such a line could probably terminate at Wudu or at the farthest Baifu, beyond which there simply aren't that many people until you get to downtown Keelung. Ideally the Bannan Line would be extended, though the current government claims that any Bannan Line extension would be blocked by the TRA and HSR and would therefore be impossible. Alternatives include extending the as-yet-unbuilt Minsheng-Xizhi Line, as the KMT appears to favor, or extending the Neihu Line. Ko and Keelung mayor-elect Lin Yu-chang seem to prefer starting a new line from Nangang, though that would force everyone bound for Taipei to transfer and make such a line less appealing than the TRA.
Even if there is too much demand for any of the above ideas to handle, then a whole new express line could be considered- but an MRT line, as it is defined in Taiwan right now, would probably still be too slow to compete with current options.
Although it's great that the Taiwanese electorate is still supportive of MRT, the government should still only build it when it's actually appropriate. There should also be a concerted effort to improve the TRA, which is all too often treated as a tourist attraction, rather than as the serious transportation system it is for hundreds of thousands, and could be for hundreds of thousands more.

Taipei MRT Ridership by Station in 2013

Below is a list of the most heavily used MRT stations in Taipei in 2013, by the total number of boardings and alightings at each station.  The data comes from the Taipei Department of Transportation.

Station	Line	Exits+Entrances
Taipei Main Station	Danshui, Bannan	114,065,000
Taipei City Hall	Bannan	47,641,000
Ximen	Bannan, Xiaonanmen	43,468,000
Zhongxiao Fuxing	Bannan, Wenhu	38,390,000
Zhongxiao Dunhua	Bannan	29,524,000
Danshui	Danshui	29,037,000
Xinpu	Bannan	26,768,000
Banqiao	Bannan	25,420,000
Jiantan	Danshui	25,387,000
Dingxi	Zhonghe-Xinlu	22,743,000

The top seven stations remain the same as in 2012, but there's been some movement among the bottom three.  First, Banqiao continued to gain users, and overtook Jiantan to become the 7th most popular station in the system, just shy of Xinpu, which saw its ridership fall slightly.  Banqiao remains the only station opened after 2001 to be among the top 10.  In addition, Dingxi replaced Zhongshan as the 10th most popular station, presumably boosted by the Zhonghe Line's increased frequency and new direct connection to the Xinzhuang Line.  Dingxi is the 4th station in New Taipei to make the list, and the first on the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line.  Since the Dingxi area has little to attract people from outside Yonghe, Dingxi is almost certainly an origin station rather than a destination, suggesting that the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line feeds passengers into other parts of the MRT system rather than take them directly to their destination.  

As in pervious years, the Bannan Line was the dominant line in the MRT system, with 7 of the top ten stations and all of the top 5.  The Danshui Line remains the second most important, even though its share of the top ten dropped from 4 stations to 3.  The Zhonghe-Xinlu Line just broke into the top ten with one station, while the Wenhu Line only made it onto the list through its transfer station with the Bannan Line.
Below are the 10 least-used stations for 2013:

Station	Line	Exits+Entrances
Nangang Software Park	Wenhu	789,000
Wanfang Community	Wenhu	1,363,000
Xiaobitan	Xiaobitan	1,413,000
Dahu Park	Wenhu	1,900,000
Zhongyi	Danshui	1,990,000
Xinhai	Wenhu	2,078,000
Xianse Temple	Zhonghe-Xinlu	2,137,000
Sanchong	Zhonghe-Xinlu	2,202,000
Fuxinggang	Danshui	2,455,000
Linguang	Wenhu	2,603,000

As with the top 10, the bottom 10 are mostly the same as last year, with the exception of Touqianzhuang being replaced by Linguang.  This leaves the Wenhu Line dominating the list with 5 stations, while the Danshui and Zhonghe-Xinlu Lines are tied for second with 2 each.
Below are the average number of riders passing through all the stations on each line.  Average ridership for all stations grew by 4.8% compared to 2012.

Line	Av. Exits+Entrances/Stations	% Change
Bannan	20,690,000	2.0%
Danshui/Xindian	13,596,000	N/A
Xindian	11,053,000	3.2%
Danshui	15,101,000	2.6%
Zhonghe-Xinlu	9,268,000	N/A
Zhonghe	17,325,000	10.6%
Zhongxiao Xinsheng to Daqiaotou	9.944,000	26.6%
Luzhou	7,137,000	8.2%
Xinzhuang	4,763,000	8.8%
Wenhu	5,956,000	2.2%
Neihu	5,152,000	6.3%
Muzha	6,759,000	-0.7%

Unsurprisingly, the Bannan Line was the most heavily used line, followed by the Danshui-Xindian Line, the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line and finally the Wenhu Line.  This reflects how many stations each line has in the top ten.  Ridership was most uneven on the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line, with the Zhonghe Line having the heaviest ridership, the trunk section of the Xinzhuang Line seeing mediocre ridership and the Luzhou and especially the Xinzhuang branches having very low ridership. The Xinzhuang Branch was the second least-used section of the MRT, followed only by the Muzha section of the Wenhu Line.
Growth was very uneven in 2013.  The largest gains in ridership were on the newest lines, with the central section of the Xinzhuang Line between Zhongxiao Xinsheng and Daqiaotou growing faster than any other section of the MRT, and Songjiang Nanjing gaining more users than any other station, followed by Xingtian Temple.  This was presumably the result of the improved connection to the Zhonghe Line, though some of the increase may also have been caused by people adjusting their travel habits to take advantage of the new line- for example, people may be more willing to take jobs near the Xinzhuang Line that they were before.
The Zhonghe Line saw the second-largest gains after the trunk section of the Xinzhuang Line, presumably from increased frequency and the faster connection to the Xinzhuang Line and east Taipei.  However, the increase was less than half that of the Xinzhuang trunk line, suggesting that the Xinzhuang Line gained more from the new connection.  The Xinzhuang and Luzhou branches also gained quite a bit of ridership compared to 2012, presumably mostly from people adjusting to the new lines.
The Wenhu Line also saw uneven growth, with the Neihu section growing faster than the system average while the Muzha section losing passengers, especially in its central Taipei section.  Even with this decline- which follows a decline last year- the Muzha Line still has much higher ridership than it did before the Neihu extension opened.
Finally, although it doesn't appear on the above chart, the central section of the Danshui Line (that is, from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to Shuanglian) also lost ridership.  Part of this may have been caused by Zhonghe and Xindian Line passengers switching to the Xinzhuang Line to get to central and eastern Zhongshan District rather than transferring to buses at Zhongshan, Shuanglian or Minquan West Rd. stations, though the decline at NTU Hospital and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall suggest it may be caused by other factors.
Overall, trends in 2013 were positive: newer, lesser used parts of the MRT gained ridership, which balanced out losses in more heavily used sections.  However, ridership remains very uneven, with the Bannan Line connecting to far more destinations than any other line.  To even out ridership Taipei should focus on developing destinations near central areas along less heavily used sections of the MRT.  For example, developing Minquan West Rd. as a destination would attract more riders from the underused Xinzhuang and Luzhou branches, as well as from the not especially crowded Xinzhuang trunk and northern Danshui Line.

Squeezing Yet More Trains onto the Bannan Line

The United Daily recently had an interesting report about how the MRT has saved time during rush hour on the Bannan Line.  Every weekday between 8 and 9 AM the MRT has stationed workers on the Bannan Line platforms at Zhongxiao Xinsheng and Taipei Main whose sole task is closing each train's doors.  This might sound wasteful, but the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. claims it has allowed them to run two more trains during rush hour, permitting 29 trains per hour which can fit 3,000 more people, and reducing headways by fifteen seconds, to 2 minutes and 5 seconds.
Typically, after an MRT train stops, the driver steps out of the cab and only reenters once they see everyone has boarded the train.  According to Tan Gwa Gwang, president of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp., the TRTC determined that this takes 5 seconds.  To save this time, the TRTC stationed staff near the driver's cab to watch the monitors showing passengers boarding and exiting the train, so the driver doesn't need to leave the cab.  When the warning alarm sounds, they reach into the cab and place their finger on the door closing button.  Once the alarm stops and there are no more passengers entering or exiting the train, they press the button and motion to the driver to leave the station.
Last year the TRTC had already saved 10 seconds per train by adding crowd control staff to Zhongxiao Xinsheng and Taipei Main's platforms.

Shifting Transfers from Taipei Main to Zhongxiao Xinsheng

A couple interesting tidbits related to the opening of Dongmen Station, slated for this coming Sunday (September 30th):
For those who don't know, one of the most cited benefits of separating the Zhonghe Line from the Danshui Line and merging it with the Xinzhuang Line is that it will relieve crowding in Taipei Main Station by making it possible for people traveling between the Zhonghe Line and eastern Taipei to transfer at Zhongxiao Xinsheng.  According to the Taipei MRT Corporation, currently on the average day 257,000 transfers occur at Taipei Main Station, and 77,000 at Zhongxiao Xinsheng.  With the opening of the Zhonghe-Xinzhuang connection, the number of transfers at Taipei Main will decrease by 53,000 to 204,000, and increase at Zhongxiao Xinsheng to 129,000.  Other media reports have suggested a more modest (and less specific) shift of somewhere between 20 and 30,000 transfers, which seems low to me given that transferring at Zhongxiao Xinsheng will be faster for everyone traveling between eastern Taipei and anywhere south of Guting, on both the Xindian and the Zhonghe Lines.  I do wonder however if the numbers take into account the likely increase in ridership that will result from faster trips and increased frequency on the Zhonghe Line, which should lead to a lot of new MRT passengers transferring at Zhongxiao Xinsheng, not just people who used to transfer at Taipei Main.
Another service change which occurred earlier this month is that the headway between trains on the Bannan Line during peak hours decreased from 2 minutes 15 seconds to 2 minutes 5 seconds.  Not huge, but anything that decreases crowding on that line is a good idea, and frankly overdue.  I wonder if they can up frequency any higher.