Fan Chih-ku, director general of the TRA, made the remarks in response to interpellations from legislators after delivering a report on the current transportation business of the TRA and how to upgrade its competitiveness.
During the legislative session, Lawmakers Huang Chao-shun and Yang Li-huan of the Kuomintang asked Fan when the TRA would allow passengers to travel with their pets.
Yang said offering "pet cars" on trains is a very effective marketing strategy, as it can attract passengers to hold different "pet parties" in the cars.
In response, Fan said that the TRA may designate the first and last cars of a train as "pet cars," adding that not all the trains will have pet cars.
Fan also noted that whether passengers should pay extra ticket fares for their pets and which kinds of pets will be allowed into the special cars will be subject to further discussions.
Meanwhile, Yang Cheng-teh, a division chief of the TRA, said that in a survey done in 2003 by the TRA, up to 72 percent of respondents expressed opposition to passengers carrying pets with them, and some people even appealed to the Control Yuan, the government's highest watchdog, against the practice.
The TRA already completed a new public opinion survey in mid-April, and will work out a set of measures concerning launching "pet cars" in accordance with positive findings of the survey.
On another front, the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp. allows passengers to take dogs, cats, fish and shrimps with them when getting aboard the high-speed rail system, as long as they're well packed, won't defecate or urinate in the cars.
Also yesterday, TRA officials told the legislative session that the passenger transportation between Taipei and the Yilan County has plunged 30 percent as a result of the operation of the Taipei-Yilan freeway.
The officials said that the TRA will move to issue single-day travel coupons to attract local people to tour the northeastern scenic spots by taking a train, so as to prevent the drain of inbound foreign tourists.
TRA statistics indicated that the annual revenue garnered by the TRA in 2007 posted a slight annual drop of 4.20 percent from 2006. The volume of passengers recording long-distance trips of over 200 kilometers showed a decline of 10.78 percent, translating into a daily revenue shrinkage of 1.23 million.
The decline was mainly fueled by the official operations of the high-speed railway system, and the Taipei-Yilan freeway.
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