Taipei City Government

The Public Transportation Office (PTO) has joined forces with TaipeiPASS to integrate the public bus reservation system into the Taipei City Government public services smart phone application. The new function will be unveiled on July 1.
 
Considering the fact that some bus routes encounter problems such as infrequent services and low demand, in the interest of optimizing the use of transportation resources while maintaining existing conveniences, PTO worked with bus operators to introduce the public bus reservation app on July 1, 2020. As of March 2021, a total of 11 less-utilized bus routes were able to reduce the number of services from 829 trips to 267 trips, thanks to the innovative mechanism.
 
According to the agency, there were a few cases following the introduction of the reservation system where users made reservations but didn’t show up for the ride. Reasons include “something came up and I forgot to cancel the reservation,” “I was trying out the function but forgot to cancel the reservation,” and “I reserved the ride on the wrong date.” Among these, “I forgot to cancel reservation” seems to be the predominant excuse, and many such users reserved rides only 1 day ahead of time.
 
The following changes will be in place with the integration of the public bus reservation system into TaipeiPASS:
 

1. TaipeiPASS integrates the user’s identity with numerous city services. In addition to serving as a portal, the app is also a digital identity mechanism specific to Taipei City. The public bus reservation allows TaipeiPASS users who are logged in to utilize its functions.
2. Service Suspension Mechanism: The reservation rights of a given user will be revoked for 7 days for 1 missed appointment. The penalty will be extended to 30 days upon accumulating 3 no-shows.
3. Reminder and Notification: The app will automatically dispatch a reminder to the user 2 hours before the reserved ride. For new route submissions which fail to secure minimum backing by the deadline, the system will also notify the user and reinitiate the motion if necessary.
4. New Option – Reservation by Bus Stop: After reserving a ride based on a specific bus stop, for buses with primary and secondary routes, the bus operating at the designated time will pick up the passenger there even if the stop is only served by the secondary line or vice versa. This options offers more flexibility for the bus operator and enhances the convenience for riders.

 
For more information on the public bus reservation system, please visit the Chinese website of PTO