National Freeways Jam-packed with Purple Alert|端午連假首日 國道七路段交通壅塞紫爆

Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Traffic jams have been reported on the National Freeways going South since early in the morning. Let's take a look.


As people are returning home and travelling around the country during the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend, the National Freeways are jam-packed with cars, especially on the southbound sections. The Minister of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Lin Chia-lung was at the Freeway Bureau this morning to inspect the situation. He stressed the level of measures for traffic controls are the same as that of Lunar New Year's, including free tolls during the evening, High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes and ramp metering.

We are using all the traffic control measures that were effective in the past. Road users should have an ample grasp of the information platforms we have provided and choose the best route at the most appropriate time.

The Highway Bureau said it estimated that the traffic flow on the National Freeways on the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival holidays could reach up to 120 million vehicle kilometers travelled, which is 1.5 times more than normal. As for the National Freeways on the West, the traffic was packed with a purple alert in Yangmei, Hsinchu sections on Freeway Number 1 and the Daxi Longtan sections on Freeway Number 3. The Nankang to Pinglin section on Freeway Number 5 was also showing a purple alert with an average speed lower than 20 kilometers per hour, where the cars were hardly moving at all.

The traffic would gradually subside after 8pm on Freeway Number 5 going southbound. If people are going to take the Freeway Number 5 for travelling, even for a one-day trip, we suggest to avoid today or take the Number 2 or Number 9 Provincial Highway instead.

In related news, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced on June 24 that a Japanese student has been confirmed of COVID-19 upon returning to Japan from Taiwan, thus Taiwan is suspected to be at risk for community infection and making travelling during the Dragon Boat Festival Holiday a potential underlying risk for contracting the virus. Lin Chia-lung urged the nationals to carry out the new epidemic prevention measures when travelling. Today also marks the first day that Taoyuan's International Airport opens for flight transfers after border controls were exercised. Currently, the airport only accepts transfers from China Airlines, Eva Airlines and Cathay Airlines and limits the lay-over time to 8 hours. Lin said the restrictions would be gradually lifted as long as the segregation of the movement of people could be implemented properly.



端午連續假期，返鄉、旅遊人潮大爆發，尤其國道南下路段嚴重塞車，上午交通部長林佳龍，前往高公局視察，強調疏運措施，比照農曆年等級，包括夜間免收費、高乘載、匝道儀控等，運用所有交通疏導措施。

交通部長 林佳龍表示：「過去用過有效的疏導措施，大概都傾囊而出，充分掌握我們所提供的資訊平台，能夠選擇適當的時間，走最好的路線。」

高速公路局表示，端午連假首日，預估國道交通量，120百萬車公里，約平日1.5倍。其中西部國道部份，國1楊梅、新竹路段、國3大溪龍潭路段，車流量大，出現"紫爆"情況。另外，國5南港系統到坪林路段，一樣"紫爆"、時速低於20公里，車輛幾乎動彈不得。

高公局交通管理組科長 蔡明哲表示：「大概到晚上大概八點以後，整個國五南下車潮，才會逐漸的一個紓解。如果要往國五旅遊，甚至包括，像是一日性的旅遊活動，我們是建議，就是儘量避開今天，或者說改到我們台2、台9線的一個替代道路來做前往。」

另外，指揮中心24號公布，一名來台日籍學生，返回日本時，驗出確診，台灣疑似存在社區感染風險，而這也為國人端午連假出遊，埋下不定時炸彈。林佳龍呼籲國人出遊一定要落實防疫新生活。至於桃園機場開放轉機首日，由於只接受華航、長榮和國泰，三家航空公司轉機，並限制停留時間8小時內，林佳龍表示，只要做好動線分流，未來還會逐步開放。