Department of Transportation

The Taipei Public Transportation Office announced today (September 27) that the bus stop name is currently broadcasted in bus in two languages, Mandarin and English. With the hope of serving more customers and providing diverse services, a new service was launched on trial from September 3, broadcasting in four languages, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka and English. This newly launched service was the first time ever throughout the country. Initially, a total of 13 bus companies, which run 26 bus routes with 328 buses operated, provided the new service.
According to the Taipei Public Transportation Office, the broadcasting phrases in Taiwanese and Hakka (Taiwanese: common Taipei accent derived from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou accent; Hakka: Sixian accent) were referred to those of the Taipei Hakka Affairs Commission and Taipei MRT. Name of each bus stop was broadcasted only once in replace of two times as practiced currently. The phrases were kept precise and short. Staff of the Taipei Public Transportation Office and bus companies had checked that the new broadcasting phrase in four languages takes even shorter time than the previous phrase in two languages for two times. The phrase would not be too long and found disturbing by passengers. (Taking the bus stop, MRT City Hall Station, as an example, current version of the phrase is broadcasted 50 m after departing from the stop: “Next stop is+ stop name in Mandarin + stop name in English”, and 100 m before arrival on the stop: “We are approaching + stop name in Mandarin + stop name in English”. The new version of the phrase in four languages is broadcasted 150 m before arrival on the stop: “We are approaching + stop name in Mandarin + stop name in Taiwanese + stop name in Hakka + stop name in English.”) While the distance to the next stop is too short, the broadcasting phrase is automatically terminated upon arrival on the next stop.
The Taipei Public Transportation Office commented that the on-trial bus route providing the new service has been launched on September 3, and a total of 26 bus routes are expected to provide the service in early October. The on-trial period ceases at the end of November. After that, the Office will take into account the old name of each bus stop in Taiwanese (eg. MRT Xingtian Temple is called “Eun Zhu Gung” in Taiwanese) and passenger’s feedback and suggestions before making any changes if needed. Passengers are welcome to provide suggestions about the broadcasting phrase in four languages by dialing 1999 (02-2720-8889 from out of Taipei City) or bus service complaint line 02-2729-1181. The Office will review and refer to passenger’s suggestions when expanding the service to other bus routes.

2012-09-27