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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 University limits tour bus parking
Residents from the Hamasen area in Kaohsiung and students from National Sun Yat-sen University demonstrate yesterday — with a model of a Qing Dynasty-era cannon — against what they see as too many tour buses in their neighborhood. Photo: CNA
By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
With large numbers of Chinese tourists visiting the Sizihwan Scenic Area （西子灣）, National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung has announced that it is limiting the number of tour buses allowed to park on its campus, citing concerns about vehicles encroaching on its campus space, and the safety of students and faculty.
The university made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that it would accept no more than 35 tour buses in its parking lot at a time, adding that the change is in line with an increase in parking fees collected by the university, which is set to take effect tomorrow.
An official from the school’s public affairs office who declined to be named said that an average of 4,000 tourists and 200 tour buses visit Sizihwan every day, and that many tour buses park in the school’s parking lot, often causing it to reach capacity.
The school had been so overwhelmed by the tour buses that some are parked right beside the running tracks and a softball court, posing a danger to students and teachers, the official said.
A video made on campus by a university student on Monday last week showed dozens of tour buses occupying a vast area next to the school’s running tracks, with one bus making a U-turn at a road entrance on the campus.
Furthermore, almost all the parking spaces meant for cars and SUVs had been taken up by tour buses, some blocking roads, the video showed.
The Alliance of the Hamasen Visions, Sizihwan area residents, backed the university’s move, while accusing the Kaohsiung City Government of inaction over the traffic that they say has plagued their neighborhood.
Dozens of alliance members and Shaochuan Borough （哨船） residents yesterday rolled out a replica of a 19th-century artillery piece and blocked the entrance to the Sizihwan Tunnel outside the university, shouting: “Give us back our road rights” and “Do not occupy the streets.”
When police officers held up a sign pronouncing the event illegal, one picketer, dressed as Qing Dynasty viceroy Shen Pao-chen （沈葆楨） — apparently a tribute to the official’s legacy of fending off “intruders” from Japanese forces in Taiwan — fired two shells from the artillery and the event was quickly concluded.
Alliance spokesperson Yenwen Peng （彭渰雯） said the shells were fired as a symbol of “defending the roads.”
Since the restrictions on tour buses was imposed, traffic in the area had been nearly paralyzed by an overflow of tour buses pulled over on roadsides, which has taken up much of the road and infringed on local residents’ living space, she said.
The problem is especially rampant on roads surrounding the former British Consulate at Takow （打狗）, which she said is a popular tourist destination.
The alliance organized a flash-mob event yesterday afternoon to draw attention to their appeals, calling on the city government to enforce traffic control measures in coordination with the university’s efforts.
The city government said that the university’s move to limit the access of tour buses to its parking lot “defeats the purpose of a large parking lot,” adding that it would contact school administrators to obtain an understanding of how the parking lot is managed.
The city government added that to improve traffic near Sizihwan, it has finalized plans to build transfer and shuttle stations, and that it would redouble efforts to deter and fine tour buses that illegally occupy roads.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
