Tiannan Temple on Fagu Mountain is located in a mountainous area about two kilometers away from Hengxi MRT Station. There is no bus available. (Photo by reporter Huang Zhengjia)
The New Taipei MRT Sanying Line connects well-known attractions such as Sanxia Old Street, Yingge Ceramics Old Street, and the New Taipei City Art Museum. However, local governments also expressed the hope that sightseeing shuttle buses can connect remote attractions to truly solve the "last mile" problem. The Transportation Bureau stated that there are many urban bus routes connecting surrounding attractions, and they will be reviewed on a rolling basis based on actual needs. The Tourism Bureau pointed out that there are currently small tours that use MRT and buses to take tourists to experience the local charm in depth.
City Councilor Lu Jiakai said that many citizens have reported that the connections to scenic spots outside Yingge Old Street on the Sanying Line are still inconvenient. Many places are far away from the urban area. Without connections, it is difficult to get to surrounding scenic spots from the MRT station. He hopes that the city government will evaluate and plan the "Sanying Line Sightseeing Shuttle Bus" to increase minibus connection services to bring people into each scenic spot and boost the local economy.
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Taking Hengxi Station as an example, there is no bus to Tiannan Temple on Fagu Mountain, which is two kilometers away in the mountainous area. People who do not drive need to take a taxi or walk for about 30 minutes.
Hong Chien-rong, professor of history at Taipei University and director of the Oceanographic Research Center, said that if Sanying’s traditional arts, industries, and religious and cultural attractions can be more closely connected, the government can build sightseeing buses to make it more flexible and form a sightseeing corridor ranging from points, lines to strips.
The Transportation Bureau responded that sightseeing connections mainly focus on sightseeing and recreation needs; urban buses take the people's daily commuting, school and basic travel needs as the main consideration, and are subject to rolling reviews based on actual travel demand, transportation volume and overall road network configuration. Currently, there are multiple urban buses. It includes the 571 route to Chengtian Temple, the 778 route to Baiji area, the 807 route to Man Yueyuan, the Sanying 2nd route to Sanxia Old Street and Hakka Cultural Park and other attractions. The 731 route connects the Ceramics Museum, Xinmei Museum and Yingge Old Street, and connects the surrounding attractions of the Sanying Line.
The Tourism Bureau pointed out that taking into account the characteristics of holiday concentration of trips to some mountainous scenic spots, it is currently planning to use small travel itineraries to connect famous tourist attractions in the Sanying area through MRT, minibuses and other means of transportation.
City Councilor Peng Yishu said that sightseeing connections are of course important, but the daily commuting, schooling and living needs of local residents should also be taken into consideration. There is a huge gap between urban and rural areas in Three Gorges. On one side are the densely populated high-rise communities of the Peking University Special Administrative Region, and on the other side are mountainous settlements and tourist attractions such as Dabu, Jiajiao, and Xiongkong. There are no convenient and direct bus routes between the two. Residents of the Peking University community or foreign tourists often need to go to the Sanxia urban area first and then transfer to scenic spots such as Big Root and Full Moon. The city government cannot just send passengers to the MRT station and end there. Instead, it should use the MRT station as the core to re-invent the bus road network in the Three Gorges to connect them.
The Transportation Bureau pointed out that in response to the opening of the Sanying Line, it has simultaneously taken stock of the bus network and transfer needs around the MRT stations along the line, and has used the MRT stations as important transfer nodes to continue to review the Sanxia and Yingge bus routes and frequency to improve the last mile of public transportation services.
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New Taipei City Councilor Peng Yishu said that one side of the Three Gorges is the densely populated building community of the Peking University Special Administrative Region, and the other side is the mountainous settlements and tourist attractions. There is a lack of convenient and direct bus routes between the two. (Photo by reporter Huang Zhengjia)
New Taipei City Councilor Lu Jiakai said that citizens have reported that it is still inconvenient to connect to attractions other than Yingge Old Street on the Sanying Line. Without connections, it is difficult to travel from the MRT station to surrounding attractions. (Photo by reporter Huang Zhengjia)
