According to a United Daily News report, “After Freezing Fares, Ko Wen-je Points Out Three Errors Committed by Taipei Metro,” Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je promised during a briefing to the City Council yesterday that Taipei Metro (TRTC) fares would not increase during his current term. This is seen by outsiders as a “first piece of good news” released following a string of negative reports, aimed at boosting his approval ratings.
Ko stated that after meetings with the TRTC, he concluded that the Metro had committed three major errors over the past 30 years: “Failure of TOD (Transit-Oriented Development),” “Failure of Metro Commercialization,” and “Failure of Commercial Guidance.”
However, the editor of this site believes Ko Wen-je is a complete layman in this field. Unlike me, who admits to being an outsider, he insists on using his “high IQ” to interfere in professional transportation matters. Here are my rebuttals to the “three errors” Ko proposed:
1. Ko says: “Priority for public housing will be given based on workplace location to reduce commuting.”
This is essentially an attempt to buy votes from a specific demographic. Are young people in Taipei working in other sectors not worth considering? Instead of finding practical solutions to traffic congestion, he plans to solve the problem through the distribution of non-existent public housing. He is trying to shift the blame for his own inability to manage traffic onto the past 30 years of urban planning.
Just think about it: how many people who own a car and absolutely must drive would intentionally rent a house far from Neihu just so they can endure a daily commute to work there?
IQ 157? Really?
2. Ko says: “MRT joint developments should be shopping malls, not luxury housing.”
Nonsense. Malls are built where the location is suitable, such as Q Square. However, many locations are clearly unsuitable for commercial use and are better integrated with residential areas. Building housing at least ensures residents live there; if you force a mall into a low-traffic area, the business will fail and the space will die—look at how many sections of the Taipei City Underground Mall are deserted.
3. Ko says: “The Metro cost 600 billion TWD to build, but it failed to drive the metro industry.”
Building an industry is not that simple. He cites Mainland China’s infrastructure projects in other countries as an example, but he forgets that those countries often lacked basic infrastructure to begin with. Thus, China can choose traditional high-traffic areas for development. Look at other transportation projects in the R.O.C.—how much “industry” have they actually driven? It is a structural issue of overall social development.
Furthermore, Ko ignores the fact that the Taipei Metro network is vast; many terminal stations have almost no foot traffic. Is he planning to develop “ghost industries”?
Ko finally says: “We decided to increase non-farebox revenue to subsidize the fare difference. The degree of commercialization over the next two years can offset the need for fare hikes. Fares will not increase for the next 2.5 years.”
When a doctor with an IQ of 157 becomes a mayor, his words become surprisingly political.
If you don’t dare to raise fares for the next 2.5 years, just be honest: you are using the city treasury to subsidize fares for the sake of the election!
Otherwise, I truly don’t know how Mayor Ko can utter something as illogical as “commercialization will offset fare hikes” with a straight face.
Using hypothetical future earnings to fill existing fare deficits is just as foolish as those who shout about a “nuclear-free, coal-free homeland” by 2025.