Operation of Taiwan's longest cable-car system was launched after 18 months of construction and a 12-week test run. Total cost of the cable cars and 4.03-kilometer route was US$41.2 million, according to the TCG Web site. With up to eight people per cabin and a top speed of 6 meters per second, the system could carry a maximum of 2,400 passengers per hour. France-based Poma Group, provider of the 147 cabins for the system, participated in the test run to ensure the system's stability, the TCG's Transportation Planning Office stated July 10.
Travel between the route's four stops from Taipei Zoo to the uphill Maokong area takes 20 minutes. Construction of the gondola system was expected to bring further prosperity to the area, already popular for its tea plantations and teahouses, TPO Director Rex Hong said July 9, adding that 26,000 journeys were made July 5 and 6 each, the first weekend of the system's operation.
Local environmental-protection groups including the Green Party Taiwan and Homemakers' Union and Foundation initiated a movement calling on the public not to use the cable cars. In a joint statement issued July 5, they cited a number of problems, including local residents' complaints about excessive noise during operation, environmental damage, increased garbage and the danger of mudslides caused by development of hill slopes.
Hong responded that tests conducted by the Environmental Protection Administration under the Executive Yuan as well as by the TCG Department of Environmental Protection found noise levels were within existing regulations. The number of pillars used for the system's construction and the quantity of earth and stone removed had been reduced to lessen environmental impact, the TPO stated in a June 21 submission to the Ministry of the Interior.
The HUF identified gondola ticket prices as another potential problem. Secretary-General Chang Hung-lin explained July 6 that the fare of between US$0.90 and US$1.50 depending on the distance traveled did not reflect the real costs of running the system, let alone building it. He questioned whether the TCG could cover operational expenses, which, Hong admitted, were estimated to run at an annual loss of around US$1.8 million. "This money comes from the pockets of Taipei citizens, who are paying the costs even in their sleep," Chang said.
Hong responded that the ticket price might be adjusted in the future and that Wenshan District had been targeted for development into a special recreation and leisure area, with projects reviewed by the MOI. "The losses might not be small, but the economic benefits will be greater," Hong said July 9.
The HUF and GPT also raised technical problems, including high temperatures inside the cabins and the system's operational instability. The system had incurred a number of breakdowns including that when Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin and former Mayor Ma Ying-jeou were stuck in a cabin for nine minutes July 4. The groups' statement said that temperatures in the cars were around three degrees Celsius higher than outside, which was unbearable for passengers in summertime. Highest daily temperatures in Taipei over the July 4-7 period were between 33.2 and 35.5 degrees Celsius, the Web site of the Central Weather Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications reported.
Ventilation would be improved by increasing the number of windows that could be opened, Hau said in a July 5 report by Taiwan's Central News Agency, a process that would take between three and six months.
Hong claimed most of the system failures were caused by human error and the July 4 breakdown occurred when journalists from local media broke a safety door as they jostled for position on the opening day. Hong added that the system would close whenever faced with high-speed winds, lightning, earthquakes or typhoons.
Write to Annie Huang at shihyin@mail.gio.gov.tw