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
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Kaohsiung's Free Transit
Kaohsiung recently rescinded fares on its transit system for a limited time in order to combat air pollution. In the first day of the program ridership increased 10%- not a small increase compared to total ridership, but minuscule when considering how underused mass transit was in Kaohsiung to begin with.
This policy reflects the central problem with Taiwan's transportation planning: it tries to solve problems caused by too much driving without doing anything to discourage driving. While 10% more ridership is not bad in purely comparative terms, it barely amounts to several percents of Kaohsiung's drivers. Cost simply isn't the main reason Kaohsiungers don't take transit; speed and comfort (specifically distance from stations, speed of buses, quality of sidewalks, etc.) are also important. Many of these improvements can't be accomplished without inconveniencing drivers- but it is clear that is unthinkable to Taiwan's politicians. Taiwan will be unable to resolve its energy, environmental, land management, and safety issues until politicians- and people- change this attitude.
Relevant article:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/12/02/2003683302
This policy reflects the central problem with Taiwan's transportation planning: it tries to solve problems caused by too much driving without doing anything to discourage driving. While 10% more ridership is not bad in purely comparative terms, it barely amounts to several percents of Kaohsiung's drivers. Cost simply isn't the main reason Kaohsiungers don't take transit; speed and comfort (specifically distance from stations, speed of buses, quality of sidewalks, etc.) are also important. Many of these improvements can't be accomplished without inconveniencing drivers- but it is clear that is unthinkable to Taiwan's politicians. Taiwan will be unable to resolve its energy, environmental, land management, and safety issues until politicians- and people- change this attitude.
Relevant article:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/12/02/2003683302
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Airport Rail Is a Bad Idea
The Taoyuan Airport Line isn't getting great ridership: 130,000/day or so, less than the Wen-Hu Line. Perhaps that's due to terrible transfers. More telling is that only 20% of the riders are taking it to the airport. In other words, people find it more useful to go to places other than the airport. Seen another way only 25% of the people using the airport take the train there.
It is extremely difficult for rail to airports to work. Airports simply aren't massive destinations compared to downtown business or commercial districts- just think how often you go to your job or even go somewhere central for shopping or entertainment, versus how often you go to the airport. Building a rail line around getting to the airport was a mistake on Taiwan's part, as it does little to decrease car usage and therefore does little to help the environment, and isn't useful for most people or financially self-supporting to boot.
Relevant article:
http://news.tvbs.com.tw/life/820010
It is extremely difficult for rail to airports to work. Airports simply aren't massive destinations compared to downtown business or commercial districts- just think how often you go to your job or even go somewhere central for shopping or entertainment, versus how often you go to the airport. Building a rail line around getting to the airport was a mistake on Taiwan's part, as it does little to decrease car usage and therefore does little to help the environment, and isn't useful for most people or financially self-supporting to boot.
Relevant article:
http://news.tvbs.com.tw/life/820010
Monday, December 9, 2013
Taiwan's Transportation Mode Share
The chart below shows what kinds of transport Taiwanese used to travel in 2012 for trips for a specific purpose that exceeded 500 meters, according to the same Ministry of Transportation survey I referenced when I looked at why Taiwanese don't take mass transit.
And this is the mode share for commuting to either work or school:
Unsurprisingly, private motorized transport- i.e., cars or scooters- are dominant. However, this rate is lower than what I've heard of in developed countries (I think 90-95% in the US, 80% in Japan, though I haven't been able to find a good source for comparable data). My guess is Taiwan's relatively low rate of private vehicle trips is the result of its density, and maybe from its lower average income.
While mass transit is growing more popular, a more unfortunate trend is a decrease in walking and cycling, especially to get to work or school. I can't say why this is occurring, though it certainly suggests Taiwan's terrible sidewalks aren't improving much.
Below are the percentages for each specific form of transportation, with growth rates since 2011.
Also unsurprisingly, scooters are by far the favorite mode in Taiwan, though they don't quite account for half of all trips. For mass transit, buses (which include highway and freeway coaches as well as city buses) are the most popular form, which is also not unexpected given Taiwan's limited rail coverage outside the Taipei Basin. More surprising to me is the popularity of cycling, despite the poor cycling conditions in most Taiwanese cities.
In contrast to the period between 2009 and 2012, trends between 2011 and 2012 have mostly been positive- according to the report's introduction the 2012 was the first year that public transit and non-motorized transit both gained mode share. The MRT was an exception to this trend, however, and didn't gain mode share despite the opening of the Xinzhuang Line- in fact, it lost a little for commutes. Buses have been doing pretty well, however.
| Mode | % in 2012 | % change vs. 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Private vehicle | 72.6% | -1.0% |
| Mass transit | 15.0% | +1.6% |
| Walking or cycling | 12.4% | -0.7% |
And this is the mode share for commuting to either work or school:
| Mode | % in 2012 | % change vs. 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Private vehicle | 74.1% | +0.6% |
| Mass transit | 18.3% | +1.2% |
| Walking or cycling | 7.7% | -1.7% |
Unsurprisingly, private motorized transport- i.e., cars or scooters- are dominant. However, this rate is lower than what I've heard of in developed countries (I think 90-95% in the US, 80% in Japan, though I haven't been able to find a good source for comparable data). My guess is Taiwan's relatively low rate of private vehicle trips is the result of its density, and maybe from its lower average income.
While mass transit is growing more popular, a more unfortunate trend is a decrease in walking and cycling, especially to get to work or school. I can't say why this is occurring, though it certainly suggests Taiwan's terrible sidewalks aren't improving much.
Below are the percentages for each specific form of transportation, with growth rates since 2011.
| Mode | % in 2012, all trips | change vs. 2011 | % in 2012, commutes | change vs. 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scooter | 47.8% | -0.7% | 49.4% | +0.1% |
| Car | 23.2% | -0.9% | 22.7% | -0.9% |
| Bus | 9.0% | +0.8% | 11.5% | +0.7% |
| Walking | 7.2% | +0.5% | 3.9% | 0 |
| Bicycle | 5.2% | +0.3% | 3.8% | +0.5% |
| MRT | 3.9% | 0 | 4.8% | -0.2% |
| Train | 1.3% | +0.1% | 1.6% | +0.1% |
| Taxi | 0.6% | -0.1% | 0.2% | 0 |
| HSR | 0.1% | -0.1% | n/a | n/a |
Also unsurprisingly, scooters are by far the favorite mode in Taiwan, though they don't quite account for half of all trips. For mass transit, buses (which include highway and freeway coaches as well as city buses) are the most popular form, which is also not unexpected given Taiwan's limited rail coverage outside the Taipei Basin. More surprising to me is the popularity of cycling, despite the poor cycling conditions in most Taiwanese cities.
In contrast to the period between 2009 and 2012, trends between 2011 and 2012 have mostly been positive- according to the report's introduction the 2012 was the first year that public transit and non-motorized transit both gained mode share. The MRT was an exception to this trend, however, and didn't gain mode share despite the opening of the Xinzhuang Line- in fact, it lost a little for commutes. Buses have been doing pretty well, however.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Why Taiwanese Don't Take Mass Transit
A couple months ago the Ministry of Transportation released the results of a survey on transit use. The full report is available here. There's lots of interesting data there, much of which I would like to comment on later, but first I want to start with the section about why Taiwanese don't take mass transit. The results are summarized below (note that respondents could choose multiple answers):
I have a few problems with these categories- "inconvenient" is too vague a category to be really informative, for one- but there are still a few points I'd like to make.
First, most people appear willing to use transit if it suits their needs. Not being in the "habit" of taking transit, often cited as a reason certain places have low transit mode share, was chosen by a mere 4.6% of the respondents. All the other reasons cited are related to convenience and could potentially be mitigated. This suggests there is a lot of potential for mode share expansion, and little opposition to transit per se as often seen in the United States.
Second, a surprisingly large percentage of the respondents feel they are too far from any transit station, including bus stops. This suggests that expanding Taiwan's bus networks should be a high priority, to ensure coverage for most of the population. Given Taiwan's density and geography this should be more practical than in most other countries. Improving the pedestrian environment to make walking faster and distances from stations therefore feel shorter may also help. Interestingly, the number of people who feel they are too far from a stop has gone up by 5% over the past four years, though I don't know if there has actually been a decrease in bus service, or if people who avoided transit for other reasons in previous years have been convinced to switch so that those who feel stations are too far make up a larger proportion of those who don't take transit.
In terms of service quality, low frequencies are a big problem, accounting for the fourth and fifth most common complaints. I've personally found this to be true everywhere outside Greater Taipei, and often even in Taipei itself. However, not too many people seem to feel that driving is actually faster than transit, which I find somewhat surprising.
I would have also been interested to know if people avoided transit because of crowding, cleanliness or the inconvenience of carrying luggage, but at least on a larger scale this survey shows Taiwan should focus primarily on service quality to attract more transit riders.
| Reason | % in 2012 | % change vs. 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Driving is more convenient | 45.7% | -8.1% |
| Origin/destination too far from a station | 35.0% | 5.6% |
| Unnecessary because destination is close | 20.4% | 3.2% |
| Arrival times inconvenient/ too few | 12.0% | 1.8% |
| Waiting/transferring takes too much time | 9.9% | n/a |
| Driving is faster | 6.4% | n/a |
| Too many transfers | 4.8% | 1.2% |
| Not used to mass transit | 4.6% | 1.9% |
| More expensive than alternatives | 1.8% | 0.1% |
| Walking/ cycling is healthier | 1.1% | -0.2% |
| Mass transit is too slow | 1.0% | n/a |
I have a few problems with these categories- "inconvenient" is too vague a category to be really informative, for one- but there are still a few points I'd like to make.
First, most people appear willing to use transit if it suits their needs. Not being in the "habit" of taking transit, often cited as a reason certain places have low transit mode share, was chosen by a mere 4.6% of the respondents. All the other reasons cited are related to convenience and could potentially be mitigated. This suggests there is a lot of potential for mode share expansion, and little opposition to transit per se as often seen in the United States.
Second, a surprisingly large percentage of the respondents feel they are too far from any transit station, including bus stops. This suggests that expanding Taiwan's bus networks should be a high priority, to ensure coverage for most of the population. Given Taiwan's density and geography this should be more practical than in most other countries. Improving the pedestrian environment to make walking faster and distances from stations therefore feel shorter may also help. Interestingly, the number of people who feel they are too far from a stop has gone up by 5% over the past four years, though I don't know if there has actually been a decrease in bus service, or if people who avoided transit for other reasons in previous years have been convinced to switch so that those who feel stations are too far make up a larger proportion of those who don't take transit.
In terms of service quality, low frequencies are a big problem, accounting for the fourth and fifth most common complaints. I've personally found this to be true everywhere outside Greater Taipei, and often even in Taipei itself. However, not too many people seem to feel that driving is actually faster than transit, which I find somewhat surprising.
I would have also been interested to know if people avoided transit because of crowding, cleanliness or the inconvenience of carrying luggage, but at least on a larger scale this survey shows Taiwan should focus primarily on service quality to attract more transit riders.
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