Institute of Transportation, MOTC

student：Yi-Hui Chen , 2006.06
Institute of Traffic and Transportation National Chiao Tung University

　　In order to face the impact brought by the opening of Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), which operates most of the rail lines around the island, should play its new role in whole public transportation environment. Due to the transport policy of Taiwan’s government, TRA has been remodeled into a MRT-oriented railway since 2001 to separate its commuter customers from intercity travelers in western Taiwan of the high speed rail.

　　However, TRA is a government-operated transportation agency, that is, it should concern not only profit but also social service, especially for those rural areas like eastern Taiwan. In short, the propose of the remodel project of TRA could be simply divided into two parts, the one is to improve the urban commute services in the western main line, and the other one is to maintain intercity services in the eastern main line of the island.

　　TRA MRT-oriented transformation contains the renewal of both hardware and software, and the fare rate, which is the main issue of this research, is an important part of the latter. In this paper, we will discuss about the difficulties faced by TRA after the MRT-oriented transformation. Then, we will find out a fare framework of TRA to fit the background described above by using the concept of system design method. The conclusions of this research show that TRA is suggested to introduce a zonal fare system in the western main line, and simplify its train types at the same time to improve its function of commute. On the other hand, the fare rate in the eastern main line is suggested to be constant to keep its public service role in the rural area of Taiwan.