On-time arrival service for last buses on Taipei city bus routes expanded to 30 lines

▲ Taipei city buses launch on-time arrival service for last buses; image is only for illustration purposes. (Photo / taken fromWikipedia)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

To help night owls accurately track the arrival time of the last bus and get home smoothly, the Taipei Department of Transportation has been piloting an on-time arrival service for key stops of the last bus on 10 bus routes since June 13. With an on-time rate of 97%, the service has been well received, and starting today, the department will expand the service to 30 routes to better serve the public.

All bus routes in Taipei have now implemented a dynamic information system. To address the inconvenience caused by passengers not knowing the arrival times of buses, the Department of Transportation provides real-time “estimated arrival time” information services. Since last buses mostly operate at night, to prevent passengers from waiting at stations unnecessarily, the department has set fixed arrival times for key stops based on historical average arrival data. The pilot program started on June 13 with 10 routes.

After the pilot, the on-time rate reached as high as 97%, significantly improving the safety and convenience of nighttime bus waiting. Starting today, the department is expanding the service to 20 additional routes, covering a total of 30 routes and 434 key stops to serve the public. The original 10 routes include No. 20, No. 38 (Section), No. 224, No. 232 (Alternate), No. 605, No. 915, Red 19, Blue 25, Brown 3, and Brown 20. These are joined by 20 new routes (No. 9, No. 68, No. 230, No. 513, No. 624, No. 629, No. 644, No. 648, No. 682, No. 756, No. 912, No. 212 Night, Citizen Mini Bus 7, Red 10, Red 15, Red 32, Brown 6, Brown 7, Green 1, and Green 11). The last buses will arrive at stops according to their scheduled times; if they arrive early, they will wait briefly, and if delayed, the delay will not exceed five minutes. The public can visitthe Department of Transportation websiteto check the timetables for the 30 routes’ key stops.