As most people live in the western portion of Taiwan, that is where the
greatest concentration of roads and railway systems are located. These
roads and railway systems are well-developed. The government-owned
airline in Taiwan is China Airlines. The largest airport in Taiwan can be
found outside T'aipei and is the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, with
another international airport located in southern Taiwan at Kaohsiung.
The main ports in Taiwan are Chilung, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Suao and
T'aishung.
Taiwan has a fully integrated
transportation network of railways, harbors and shipping lanes, civil
aviation, freeways and highways, and rapid transit.
Railways
Taiwan has a modern railway
system that provides frequent and convenient passenger service between all
major cities on the island. As of December 2002, Taiwan's railway
network had a total of 1,097 kilometers of track. Public railways in
Taiwan are operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration. In 2002, a
total of 175.34 million passengers and 12.15 million tons of freight (0.99
billion ton-kilometers) were transported on Taiwan's railway system.
To help alleviate heavy traffic
congestion on Taiwan's highways, the ROC government has initiated plans for a
high-speed railway (HSR). The Bureau of Taiwan High Speed Rail under the
Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) is responsible for
implementing this project, whose overall cost is projected to be around US
$13.1 billion. The planned 345 kilometer HSR route will pass through the
western corridor of the island and stop at only ten stations: Taipei, Yauyuan,
Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, and
Kaohsiung. Once completed, the HSR will reduce travel time between
northern and southern Taiwan to around 90 minutes, compared to the current 4.5
hours required for the existing train or highway systems.
Harbors and Shipping
Taiwan's six international
harbors are located in Keeling, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Anping, Taichung, and Suao.
In 2002, Kaohsiung harbor was the fifth largest harbor in the world in terms
of the volume of container cargo processed. Maritime imports and exports
handled by Taiwan's ports totaled 247 million metric tons in 2002.
Ocean shipping is vital to the
trade-oriented economy of Taiwan. As of December 2002, Taiwan had a
fleet of 241 vessels over 300 gross tons for a total of 4.3 million gross tons
or 6.82 million dead weight tons. Taiwan's fleet of cargo container
ships is one of the largest in the world. As of mid-2003, Evergreen
Marine Corporation was the third largest container carrier in the world.
Civil Aviation
Taiwan currently has two
international airports: Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in the north and
Kaohsiung International Airport in the south. Both airports are
presently in the process of being expanding. Taiwan also has 15 local
airports providing facilities for domestic flights.
As of mid-2003, a total of 41
airlines, including code-share airlines, were providing flight service to
destination in Taiwan. Of these airlines, 35 foreign carriers and six
Taiwan-based airlines (China Airlines, EVA Airways Corportation, Mandarin
Airlines, Far Eastern Air Transport Corporation, Transasia Airways, and UNI
Airways) are operating scheduled international air services to and from
Taiwan. Six companies including two helicopter operators, offer domestic
passenger flight services.
The total number of flights in
Taiwan was reduced from 561,910 in 2001 to 548,555 in 2002. The total
number of passengers, including international and domestic passengers,
decreased 4.1 percent from 46 million in 2001 to 44.19 million in 2002.
The amount of air cargo increased 15.5 percent from 1.27 million tons in
2001 to 1.47 million tons in 2002.
Highways and Freeways
Although the number of highway
passengers declined 3.4 percent and cargo decreased 3.6 percent in 2002 from
2001, major highways in Taiwan were still often congested, especially on
weekends and holidays. In 2002, there were 17.91 million motor vehicles
in Taiwan.
Traffic on the north-south Sun
Yat-sen Freeway has increased dramatically since its opening in 1978,
especially on its northern section. Statistics show that the road
handles more than 70 percent of the traffic between Keelung and Hsinchu.
Thus, to alleviate some of this heavy traffic, the Second Northern Freeway was
constructed, beginning in Keelung and connecting with the North-South Freeway
near Taipei and Hsinchu. The 106 kilometer section between Hsinchu and
Sijhih of this new 117-kilometer freeway was opened to traffic in 1997, and
the entire line was completed in 1999. Other measures taken to lighten
congestion on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway include the adding of an additional lane
to each side of the heavily used 111-kilmeter stretch from Hsinchu to Yuanlin,
and the widening of the section in southern Taiwan between Yuanlin and
Kaohsiung in 1997.
Construction of the Taipei-Yilan
Freeway, which starts in Nangang with a tunnel to Yilan, commenced in July
1991 and is scheduled for completion in 2005. In addition, an elevated
east-west expressway in Taipei was completed in June 1998.
Rapid Transit
Preparations for the Taipei
Rapid Transit System (TRTS) began in early 1986. By 2000, all five lines
of the TRTS had been completed. The Mucha Line began revenue service on
Martch 28, 1996; the Tamsui Line started operations in 1997; the Chungho line
in 1998; the entire Hsintien Line and the Nankang Line from Hsimen Station to
Lungshan Temple in 1999; and the Panchiao Line from Lungshan Temple to Hsinpu
Station in September 2000. Extensions to the original TRTS network are
currently underway.
The Kaohsiung Metropolitan Area
Mass Rapid Transit System Development Plan (First Term) developed by the
Kaohsiung City Government was approved by the Executive Yuan in January 1994,
and construction of the system, which follows the Build-Operate-Transfer
approach, began in October 2001. The system is expected to have its
first test run in December 2004, and full operations of its Red and Orange
lines are scheduled to start in October 2007.
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