Since construction on the transit system began in 1987, virtually everyone living in Taipei has been affected. Designed as a remedy for the city's worsening traffic congestion, it is one of the most ambitious undertakings outlined in the government's Six-Year National Development Plan. There are more than 500,000 cars and taxis and 700,000 motorcycles in Taipei, and several million residents in the metropolitan area commute to and from work each day.
The idea of establishing Taiwan's first rapid transit system surfaced in 1972, when the Taipei city government was considering moving the railroad tracks running through the city's western district below ground to ease traffic. Because the local government could not afford the project on its own, the central government was soon called in.
By 1984, the project had evolved into a plan for a citywide subway system. The Executive Yuan's Council for Economic Planning and Development hired three U.S. consulting companies to design what became the current MRT: a network of five heavy- and medium-capacity lines with eighty stations (see map).
Work is now under way on all lines of the system, employing six thousand construction workers and two thousand Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) personnel around the city. The 88-kilometer network is scheduled to be completed in 1999. Four additional lines or extensions have also been proposed and are in various stages of development.
The main network is estimated at a cost of approximately NT$444 billion (US$17.5 billion), or NT$5 billion (US$200 million) per kilometer, making the Taipei MRT the most expensive mass rapid transit system in the world. This is largely due to high land and labor costs. Funding is shared by the central, provincial, and Taipei governments. DORTS expects the network to absorb one-fourth of Taipei's commuter traffic by 1999, and more than half of it after the extension route is opened in 2021.
Though the mission is a noble one, the undertaking has seriously disrupted daily life and business operations in Taipei. For the thousands of people who live along the transit lines, the project has brought many nights of interrupted sleep as construction often continues late into the night. Some people have rearranged their apartments to abandon rooms adjacent to the street. Others wear Walkman earphones to bed.
The city has also become dirtier than ever before. Buildings and sidewalks near construction site are now perpetually blanketed in layers of grit. To cope, managers at the Shinkong Mitsukoshi department store, for example, have changed their cleaning policy from once a day to three to four times daily. Meanwhile, the detours, makeshift walkways, and sheet-metal fences surrounding construction areas around town have given Taipei a messy, chaotic look. Traffic on several down town thoroughfares such as Chunghsiao East Road, is disrupted by dozens of construction sites. As 33-year-old resident Lee Hsiu-mei (李秀美) puts it. "There is no such thing as city beauty in Taipei."
Hardest hit have been the businesses located near construction sites. In addition to the closures near the Taipei Railway Station, DORTS has asked twenty-nine businesses located along the Nankang line to relocate, and. after a lengthy dispute, relocated all but ten of the fruit-sellers at a wholesale market in Hsintien. Businesses that are not closing must come up with novel ways to stay alive. The shoe stores in eastern Taipei's Tinghao shopping area, for example, now offer sale prices year-round. Meanwhile Hong Kong-based Sincere department store doubled its advertising budget this year, and began offering such lavish promotions as round-trip tickets to Hong Kong.
Ironically, the worst problem caused by the MRT is the very one it is attempting to remedy: traffic congestion. For many people commuting through construction areas, travel time to and from work has doubled or tripled. And driving has become more dangerous. Motorists must dodge between traffic cones and sheet metal fencing or snake through a maze of detours. The routes change daily along some streets, and construction areas can be difficult to maneuver along since the steel trench plates covering some sections of road are slippery when wet.
Meanwhile, pedestrians must pick their way along muddy pathways or are often forced into the streets when side walks are carved up or sectioned off. Many experience the daily inconveniences cited by 24-year-old accountant Yeh Hsing-chiu (葉杏秋). "The air is more polluted because of the dust produced by the project and the steel coverings on the road are so slippery that I have to be careful not to fall," she says. But she adds that the project will be worth the inconvenience in the long run. "I only hope that after it is completed, Taipei's traffic will be improved:' she says. "I went to Japan last year and I hope our rapid transit system will be as convenient as Tokyo's."
DORTS officials are doing a remarkable job, especially given the restrictions of working in a city with one of the highest population densities in the world. Raymond T.K. Chou (周筑昆), director of DORTS's Quality Assurance Center, which monitors safety at the construction sites, points out that the MRT is the first large scale engineering project to be carried out in metropolitan Taipei. Not only does the project itself involve sophisticated technology, but the construction process is far more complicated than those outside the city. Even so, those overseeing the project are held accountable by constant public and government scrutiny, explains Albert Yeh (葉向陽), DORTS acting director responsible for operations in eastern Taipei. "The government is watching us, and so is everyone who passes the construction sites every day," he says.
Inconveniences are unavoidable in an undertaking of this magnitude, Yeh continues. Take noise for instance. Although contractors use low-noise machines when possible, little can be done to muffle the sound of tearing up a road. "All construction starts with destruction: " he says. 'The sound of destruction is definitely louder and more annoying." In addition, he explains that DORTS must work at night in order to keep the project on schedule.
Concerning traffic now, Yeh stresses that project managers have made significant sacrifices to minimize congestion. "We'd love to block off entire streets to build the system: " he says. But they don't. The Taipei city transportation department has insisted that all main roads remain open to keep the city moving. All changes in traffic routes must first be approved by the department and along some streets the same number of driving lanes must be kept open during construction. That means that on busy, six-lane Chunghsiao East Road, for example, workers had to remove a central safety island and reduce half the sidewalk space on both sides of the street before beginning construction. Meanwhile, during daily rush hours, teams of construction workers are diverted to help direct traffic.
To monitor the safety and sanitation of construction areas, DORTS established a Quality Assurance Center to inspect each site daily. Inspectors check to see that workers are wearing proper safety gear, machines are washed, and sites are adequately marked for traffic now. If a site does not pass inspection, the contractor in charge will not receive part of the funding for that month. As of August 1992, inspectors had issued fines total ling NT$9.0 million (US$360,000). The center has become a model for planners working on other Six-Year National Development Plan projects.
Responding to complaints from businesses which have lost customers during construction, DORTS'S chief engineer Chou Lie-liung (周禮良) points out that many will benefit when the system begins operating. Businesses located near MRT stations will enjoy a constant now of potential customers. "There is no way we can compensate for their present losses," he says. "For one thing, how can you estimate the loss?" But he adds that if merchants demand reimbursement now, they should have to pay the government when increased profits start rolling in later. 'The profit they will receive in the future is great," he says. "If we compensate them for their losses now, does that mean they should pay the government for the profit they will get when the system is completed?"
The MRT is also creating new business opportunities through the three shopping arcades being built into stations along the Tamsui-Taipei and Nankang-Tucheng lines. According to Hwang Tong-liang (黃通良), director-general of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. which will oversee both the lines and the stations, these shopping centers are already attracting prospective merchants. The malls will offer space to a total of sixty-eight businesses. To help keep the stations clean, food and drink will not be sold inside.
As Taipei residents prepare to endure at least six more years of MRT construction, most are buoyed by the hope that the sacrifices they make now will payoff later. Regardless of criticisms, almost everyone in Taipei agrees on one thing: the system must be finished as soon as possible. DORTS is determined to complete the main network by 1999. But the deadline for finishing the Mucha line has already been extended from the end of 1992 to August 1993, raising fears that delays will plague each of the routes. Many share the view of Gloria Wang (王娟娟), assistant general manager of Sincere department store, who says, "We expect the system to help create more profits for businesses, so we and other shops are willing to wait." ▪