[Kaohsiung News] In order to improve the operating environment for bus carriers and to create a new model of net-zero transportation, the Kaohsiung City Government held a press conference today (10), where Mayor Chi-Mai Chen announced that he had fulfilled his promise made in April last year when the TPASS was launched to increase the salary of bus drivers by more than NT$8,000 per month and that he had personally presented a certificate of appreciation to the 2023 model bus driver, as well as an award of NT$5,500. A good driving environment will result in better service quality for the citizens and will hopefully motivate and enhance drivers' pride.
In line with the City Government's policy, the Han-Cheng Bus Transportation has been actively implementing the carbon reduction initiative. In 2021, under the guidance of the City Government, the Company applied for the "Electric Vehicle Offset Program" and passed the first stage of the registration application. In 2023, the Company received assistance in applying for the second stage of the program, which has been verified by a third-party verification agency and formally submitted to the Ministry of the Environment for review and approval. If the application is successfully approved, 1,367 metric tons of carbon emission will be reduced during the monitoring period from 2021 to 2023, which is equivalent to the carbon reduction of 1.45 metropolitan parks in one year. As the first case of carbon credit application for public transportation in Taiwan, this case is quite meaningful.
Mayor Chi-Mai Chen said in a press conference that Kaohsiung City has been actively seeking and offering subsidies for the electric bus operations. In addition, in order to improve the operating environment of the bus carrier and to be in line with the launch of the TPASS, the City Government has been actively seeking subsidies from the Central Government as well. In addition to supplementing the fares for the bus carriers and increasing the cost of vehicle kilometers and freight rates, the City Government has also achieved the goal of increasing the average monthly salary of each driver by at least NT$8,000 per month since 2023, which has significantly improved the salary and benefits for the workers. It is hoped that more excellent bus drivers will be attracted to join the team, so that the bus service quality can be improved and the salary gap between the north Taiwan and the south Taiwan can be shorten at the same time, thus fulfilling the commitment to transportation equality.
In addition, Kaohsiung City has also proposed various measures to complement the launch of the monthly public transportation pass, including accelerating the EV system for buses and continuing to seek subsidies from the Central Government to replace old buses with new EV bus. In addition to adjusting the bus network and transport capacity deployment, we are planning to add trunk routes and high-potential routes in September this year before the school starts. In terms of urban and rural fare equalization, we have received subsidies from the Central Government to conduct a study on the bus fare structure adjustment in 2024, and we will continue to seek support from the Central Government in order to move towards the goal of transportation equality.
According to statistics, since the TPASS was launched at the end of April last year, 650,000 passes have been sold and nearly 300 members have achieved 3.6 tons of carbon reduction in a year. We will reward members who have achieved the target with a free 399 monthly pass for one month to encourage the general public to use low-carbon transportation tools more often and to create a healthy and green life for the citizens.
According to the Transportation Bureau, the press conference also recognized 14 2023 model bus drivers, including An-Jie Liu, Rong-Chung Lin, En-Tong Chu, and Yu-Cheng Lin from Great City Life Bus; Hsing-Yen Tseng, Bo-Cheng Chiu and Zu-Shi Wang from Kaohsiung Transportation; Ching-Kai Yue and Kuo-Rong Huang from South Taiwan Bus Co.; Chun-Nan Yeh and Chi-Feng Huang from Han Cheng Bus; Nien-Ci Tsai from Southeast Bus; Rong-Feng Tsai from U-Bus; and Hsiang-Cheng Kong from EDa Bus. These winners are all excellent drivers elected by the citizens to encourage other bus drivers to continue working hard together. In the future, the city government and the bus carrier will work together to provide the citizens with a better and a more environmentally friendly public transportation environment in line with the central government's policy of promoting public transport and the 2050 net zero emission.