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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taichung has 1.11 million cars, but not enough parking
Vehicles are parked in a fully occupied parking lot in Taichung on Saturday. Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
VALUABLE REAL ESTATE: With fewer than 300,000 parking spaces for nearly 3 million vehicles, the city has been building parking facilities wherever it can
By Tsai Shu-yuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Taichung residents have registered more than 1.11 million cars, far exceeding the number of parking spaces in the city, leading to complaints about parking, a source said Saturday.
Residents have also registered nearly 1.74 million scooters and motorcycles, but there are only 145,000 parking spaces for cars and trucks, and 146,000 spaces for scooters — far fewer than residents need, the source said.
Facing budget constraints, the city only has about NT$1.4 billion （US$49.1 million） annually to handle parking-related expenses, including personnel, management and maintenance costs, Taichung Parking Management Office Director Lee Chun-hsien （李春賢） said.
About NT$500 million of the office’s budget is used for adding parking spaces wherever it can find unused public land to do so, he said.
When possible, it works with owners of private properties to acquire more public parking, he said, citing an underground parking facility at Shuian Temple in the city’s Nantun District （南屯）, a lot next to a Pxmart in Houli District （后里） and a motorcycle parking facility next to Taroko Mall in East District （東區）.
The city government has been looking to add parking along Taichung’s busiest roads, Taichung Transportation Bureau Director-General Yeh Chao-fu （葉昭甫） said.
This year, it added parking along Meichuan E Road, Fuke Road, Hansi E Road, Defu Road and Huanjhong E Road, as well as at Sansin Park and other high-traffic areas, he said.
The bureau was also building multistory parking garages throughout the city, and has so far spent NT$5.5 billion building 19 facilities — of which 15 were funded through the central government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, he said.
A facility in the city’s Tanzih District （潭子） is to be completed before the end of this month, he said.
Facilities in Central District （中區） and Dali District （大里） have been put up for bidding, and another seven are in the planning stages, he said.
The parking facilities would provide an additional 4,604 parking spaces for cars and trucks and 2,808 for scooters when they are complete, he added.
To attract more people to move to Taichung, the city government would continue to add more parking, Yeh said.
To prevent people from abusing free parking spaces by using them for long-term parking, the city would also monitor those spaces and convert them to paid parking if necessary, he added.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
