Research, Development and Evaluation Commission

The 5th deputy mayor meeting of the Taipei-New Taipei Collaboration and Exchange Platform (hereinafter referred to as “the Meeting”) was held in the Taipei City Hall today (July 12, 2017). Presided over by Taipei deputy mayor Chia-ji Teng and New Taipei deputy mayor Shu-chuan Lee, the Meeting reviewed the progress and results of the collaborative projects in the past few months.
With the goal of creating a prosperous Greater Taipei and maximize city residents’ welfare, the Taipei-New Taipei Collaboration and Exchange Platform (hereinafter referred to as “the Platform”) integrates available resources to develop many collaborative projects that meet people’s needs and increase the two governments’ administrative efficiency. The Platform so far has successfully pushed for 102 projects in total since 2015, including new ones kicked off during the second quarter of 2017, such as “allocating city budget to support discounts for bus-metro transfers,” “Taipei’s and New Taipei’s share-proportion of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation,” “one card, all Taipei and New Taipei public libraries,” etc.
Transportation is one of the major concerns for Taipei-New Taipei collaborations. The two city governments work together on issues concerning bus, subway, bikes, etc. Many projects benefiting residents of both cities have been undertaken to provide safer and more convenient public transportation system, including the expansion of Taipei Metro network, construction of bike lanes on bridges connecting the two cities, monthly pass for public transportation, etc. In addition, two cities have reached a consensus on July 6, 2017 to propose to the Executive Yuan for the north and south sections of Taipei Metro Circular Line to be approved together and constructed simultaneously, so the construction can be completed earlier to build a more comprehensive subway network for the Greater Taipei.
Regarding “allocating city budget to support discounts for bus-metro transfers” and “Taipei’s and New Taipei’s share-proportion of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation,” the two city governments will discuss together to find a solution that integrate the public transportation system of the Greater Taipei and meet residents’ interest of both cities.
For education and culture, many cross-city projects on collaborations of public schools and institutions have been implemented. For example, Taipei Zoo, Taipei Astronomical Museum and Taipei Children’s Amusement Park offer special rates for teaching activities held there by New Taipei City’s public schools. Public libraries carried out the project of “One Card, All Taipei and New Taipei Public Libraries.” In additions, an event promoting “Public Library Resource Sharing Service Platform” of the National Central Library is held in July-September, 2017. They will continue to develop information system and resource sharing policies to achieve the object of “One Card, All Taipei and New Taipei Public Libraries.”
Taipei and New Taipei promise to assure efficient vertical and horizontal communication and implement a variety of collaborative projects. With the collaboration and experience sharing, the two governments hope to provide more convenience for residents and further enhance their quality of life.