Taipei, July 11 (CNA) Public transportation accounted for 18.1 percent of all vehicle rides taken by people in Taiwan in 2016, the highest since data become available in 2009, a Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) report revealed Tuesday.
The figure was 0.2 percentage points higher than in 2015 and up 1.8 percentage points from when the survey was first conducted in 2009.
Rides of less than 500 meters were excluded from the survey, and public transportation was defined as including buses, trains, domestic flights and ferries.
Among regions within Taiwan, public transportation was most widely used in Taipei, accounting for 42.8 percent of all rides, followed by Keelung City at 39.8 percent and New Taipei at 33.8 percent, the latest survey found.
Public transportation usage was at its lowest in Chiayi City, accounting for only 4.9 percent of all rides taken, the survey found.
The survey also found that public railroad usage has been growing steadily over recent years, thanks to the expansion of the network.
In 2016, public railroad usage accounted for 6.6 percent of all vehicle rides taken in Taiwan, compared with 4.8 percent in 2009.
The results suggest that the government should improve transfer services connecting rail lines to encourage the public to use public transportation more often.
The growing use of public transportation has curbed people's interest in using private vehicles, the report found, with private vehicle usage accounting for 70.6 percent of all rides in 2016, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous year.
