As Taiwan’s population and its vehicle count are steadily increasing rapidly as buoyed by its industrial and commercial prosperity, and of the transportation means the motorcycle, for its attributes of mobility, compactness and easy to park, has seen the number of license registrations soared significantly, Chiayi City, characterized by a dense population, is prone to suffer severe pollution if lacking a set of good control measures. In light of which, the Environmental Protection Administration has since 1996 begun levying the air pollution surcharge by drafting relevant mobile pollution control measures, and implemented the pollution audit control plan in counties and cities across the island.
The project, up to February 17, 2013, has completed the intercepting (roaming) audit of 7,091 transportation means, or an achievement ratio at 141.8%. The intercepting inspection on motorcycles tallies to 2,010 motorcycles, with failure ratio at 13.3%, and the total inspection reminder notice for the unscheduled motorcycle inspection tallying to 14,090 cases, and among them, the returned cases tally to 359 cases, the responded cases tally to 8,843 motorcycles, with the response ratio at 59.3%, and of the overall license plate recognition notices tallying 7,752 motorcycles, the responded cases tally to 6,428 motorcycles, with the response ratio at 81.5%. With a total of scheduled inspection notices of 145,627 cases forwarded, and among them, the returned cases tally to 9,735 cases, with the return ratio at 6.68%.
With the audit on a total of 336 inspection stations completed, the deviations of the standard gas comparison taken at various stations have fallen within the range of 3%, and with one inspection station’s analytical instrument audit also performed at various stations, a majority of the audits do conform to the permissible tolerance of the accuracy test to be rendered satisfactory. Two sessions of the inspection station’s orientation trainings have been staged, with the certified satisfactory personnel’s attendance ratios at 51.9% and 70.4% respectively.
As of February 17, 2013, a total of five sessions of outdoor inspection campaigning activity has been staged, offering free inspection to 490 motorcycles, and 35 are found unsatisfactory, with the fail ratio at 7.14%. In 2012’s incentive aging dual-range motorcycle replacement program, a total of 1,700 motorcycles have taken part in the replacement subsidy, and a total of nine sessions of low-pollution vehicle campaigning event has been staged, drawing a total of 6,480 participants, and 439 participants further participating in the test ride of the electric motorcycle.
Among the public tip-off cases totaling to 2,807 motorcycles, 1,688 motorcycles have completed the subsequent inspection, and 494 motorcycles have surpassed the subsequent inspection, with the incentive payout distribution ratio at 34.2%. Of the motorcycle onsite noise inspection, 21 motorcycles have been tested, and the inspection results find 2 motorcycles failing the test, with a fail ratio at 9.52%.
The results the project has achieved are as follows:
I. Chiayi City’s motorcycle exhaust screening’s inspection reporting ratio has been ranked first place consecutively in the nationwide average motorcycle inspection ratio for twelve years (with the median taken from the number of registered motorcycles’ return inspection ratio and the municipality’s inspection stations’ average figures). Chiayi City’s 2012 average motorcycle inspection reporting ratio is at 73.9%, which ranks second place among the 22 counties and cities island-wide.
II. With the group failing the scheduled inspection being considered having undergone the inspection, it suggests that the figure needs to be adjusted and modified. With the project’s verification, it has been found that those succeeding the intercepting inspection account for 65%, yet the improvement result of a significant number of motorcycles still remain lackluster. As derived from further analysis, the average motorcycle age of those surpassing the intercepting inspection is at 11.2 years, and that of those failing the intercepting inspection is at 14.4 years, suggesting that the motorcycle age on those failing the test is still considered too old. When comparing with last year’s figures, the ratio of motorcycles that fail the most recent inspection but are able to surpass after adjustment is rather comparable to those surpassing the intercepting inspection, which indicates that the promotion of the streamlined insurance has received some preliminary positive result, and is to be kept on watch and follow-up. On the other hand, in the project’s tallying the statistics on the ratios of motorcycles failing the routine inspection that surpass or fail the municipality’s intercepting inspection, it has been found that 70.6% of those completing the inspection improvement at the city’s inspection stations has been tested satisfactory, up by 14% than the year before, while only 50.0% of those completing the inspection improvement at other county or city’s inspection stations has been tested satisfactory. By comparing the foresaid figures, the improvement work has indeed been improved whether it be at the city’s inspection stations or other counties/cities’ inspection stations.
III. By analyzing the fail ratios at the roadside interception inspection following the city’s promoting the streamlined motorcycle insurance system, the fail ratio has been reduced from 20.04% to this year’s 13.33%, with the fail ratio improving 33.5%, where the preliminary data shows the streamlined insurance system has manifested its result. Yet by further analysis on history fail ratio data, the fail ratio on motorcycles undergoing the routine inspection is on a steadily declining trend, which indicates that the city’s promoting the streamlined motorcycle insurance scheme is a correct move.
IV. With the bicycles initially adopted for the public bicycles being the bicycle fleet derived from resource recycling, which has a higher breakdown ratio, marring the users’ desire to operate them, the city has in 2012 begun to seek the public bicycle fleet update work by introducing a “Smiling Chiayi City cycling forward” of an exclusive image campaigning logo, aiming to shape the city into a tranquil, clean, healthy bicycle-friendly city, and to excel the city’s residents and visitors’ satisfaction to the city’s efforts in instilling a low-carbon city. Statistics shows the public’s satisfaction to the brand-new public bicycle loaning service has reached 99%, with the turnover ratio excelling from 1.0 bike ride to 1.2 bike rides, helping to achieve a pinnacle example of pollution reduction and developing into a low-carbon city.
V. Chiayi City, vying to embank on continuing to promote a higher quality demand of motorcycle inspection stations with best efforts, has since formulated its quality policy, objective and commitment, and for ensuring that the policy is understood, implemented and upheld by all, has taken the lead by applying with the National Certification Foundation as the certified motorcycle exhaust inspection entity in the name of Chiayi City Government Environmental Protection Bureau. With the onsite assessment conducted by the National Certification Foundation’s assessment team on December 19 and 24, 2012, the city’s motorcycle exhaust inspection entity’s certification number is assigned as I0029.
