Using Rest Areas to Relieve Highway Congestion Proposed|休息站解車潮? 高公局:塞車時段再評估

Congestion often occurs on national freeways during long weekends and holidays. Some scholars have suggested using rest areas during times of congestion to improve traffic conditions and create business opportunities. The Freeway Bureau says the feasibility of such a plan needs to be assessed, because there are few rest areas near the road sections that often get congested.



Vehicles travel at a snail's pace on the freeway. Many of Taiwan's national freeways get severely congested during long weekends and holidays, and end up resembling parking lots. Some scholars recently suggested a way to resolve this problem. They say rest areas can be used to improve traffic conditions.

We can use different kinds of marketing incentives to encourage motorists to prolong the amount of time they spend at rest areas.

Guanxi Service Area is the largest rest area in the north section of National Freeway No. 3. There are 410 parking spaces for passenger vehicles and 120 parking spaces for larger vehicles. During the summer, the parking lot is filled to around 70 percent of its capacity. It may be hard to find a parking space during a long weekend or holiday. Some motorists believe the feasibility of using rest areas to relieve congestion is not high.

It was already hard enough to find a parking space on an ordinary day during the summer vacation. They also built a rest area next to Hsuehshan Tunnel, hahaha. That's not good, it's embarrassing.

The peak usage periods of rest areas are actually when nearby road sections get congested.

Scholars believe rest areas with unique characteristics will have the ability to attract motorists during traffic jams and get them off freeways. This not only creates business opportunities, but can also relieve congestion. However, the Freeway Bureau points out the feasibility of this plan is not high, and it needs to be assessed.