Institute of Transportation, MOTC

       In this study, changes in 2014-2018 inter-city transport system traffic volumes were observed. The growth and decline of the public transportation market and changes in traffic volumes at important origins and designations were analyzed. The observation and analysis show:

1. The total number of inter-city trips by bus transport increased yearly: From 2014 to 2018, the daily volume on weekdays increased from 2.987 million to 3.10 million; the daily volume on weekends increased from 5.858 million to 6.214 million; the total number of trips on weekends were twice that of weekdays.

2. In inter-city transport, trips by private transport greatly exceeded trips by public transport. Although the number of trips by public and private transport showed yearly increases, with the increase in national income, booming domestic tourism, and improving road facilities, the growth of passenger cars far exceeds that of public transport.

3. A view on the inter-city transport market shows the functional positioning of High Speed Rail, Taiwan Railways, passenger cars, and aviation as:

   (1) High Speed Rail mainly serving in the market of long-distance trips: For the long-distance market exceeding 200km, the High Speed Rail showed an upward trend for weekdays and weekends from 2014-2018. The ratios were about 39.8% for weekdays and about 30.0% for weekends in 2018.

   (2) Taiwan Railways service markets for middle-distance and middle and long-distance trips: Taiwan Railways middle-distance trips account for the highest average daily traffic volume. The daily traffic volume in 2018 was about 224,000 persons/day on weekdays and about 310,000 persons/day on weekends. The middle and long distance trips (100-200km) account for the highest ratio among all the lengths of trips. The traffic volumes were about 13.8% and 13.0% respectively for weekdays and weekends in 2018.

   (3) Freeway bus service markets for middle-distance and long-distance trips: Middle-distance trips (20-100km) have the highest average traffic volume. In 2018, there were about 118,000 passengers/day on average for weekdays and about 166,000 passengers/day on weekends. Although freeway buses were not primary and secondary transport in terms of lengths of trips, it accounted for the highest in long-distance trips (>200km) among all lengths of trips. In 2018, they accounted for about 12.1% and 12.8% respectively for weekdays and weekends.

   (4) Passenger cars are the main transport. Other than the long-distance trips on weekdays, small passengers account for the highest ratio in terms of the length of trips. The short-distance (<20km) and middle-distance (20-100km) trips account for about 85% on weekdays and about 90% on weekends. The middle and long-distance trips (100-200km) on weekdays and weekends account for 65.1% and 71.1% respectively; long-distance trips (more than 200km) account for about 34.6% and 45.5% on weekdays and weekends respectively.

   (5) In terms of aviation (Main island airline), the services are available only for the market of long-distance trips, accounting for less than 1% and with the Taipei-Taitung airline having the highest traffic volume.