“On a summer day filled with warm sunshine and a gentle breeze, families came together to create colorful shared memories!” Students from Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology designed a two-day parent-child travel itinerary combining bus tours, covering both mountain and sea adventures across Greater Tainan. On the 13th, they beat out teams from other universities nationwide to win first prize in the “Greater Tainan Bus Light Travel Itinerary Design Competition.”
The Tainan City Transportation Bureau organized the Greater Tainan Bus Light Travel Itinerary Design Competition to promote the trend of light travel by bus, attracting 17 teams from 14 universities across the country. After a preliminary review and an intense final round, the Department of Leisure Industry Management at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology emerged victorious yesterday, taking home a prize of NT$30,000.
Award-winning students Wang Yulin and Tseng Chia-hui said their itinerary design mainly focused on how to embrace a light travel lifestyle amid a busy life, using parent-child travel as the foundation and incorporating festival events and green transportation routes. They planned the itinerary around the Orange and Blue main bus lines, connecting key attractions such as the Southern Taiwan Science Park Education Center and Qigu Salt Mountain along these bus routes. Their classmates also showed support with an impressive “bus dance,” which helped them win over the judges.
Tainan City Transportation Bureau Director Chang Cheng-yuan stated that Greater Tainan boasts abundant tourism resources. With the launch of six major bus trunk lines and 74 branch lines, combined with existing urban bus routes, Tainan now meets all four essential elements for “bus light travel”: rich cultural heritage, renowned local cuisine, abundant natural resources, and a convenient bus network—making it a great place to promote low-carbon travel and leisurely bus exploration.
Huang Yaoguo, head of the Transportation Bureau’s Transportation Management Section, also noted that this event is the first in Taiwan to use buses as the main mode of transport for itinerary planning competitions. Many of the shortlisted entries were of high quality, and the students’ designs were diverse and highly creative.