By RK Shih/Staff. Images via social media/staff/Liberty Times.
KAOHSIUNG — Kaohsiung City Councilor Chiu Yu-hsuan (邱于軒) characterized the city’s current administrative process for removing abandoned roadside vehicles as “shocking,” noting that it currently takes between three to four months to move a single car — although many city residents have likely seen cars or old scooters that have been in the same place for much longer; perhaps even many years. The councilor is urging Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) to establish a cross-departmental coordination mechanism to shorten the timeline.
Under the existing system, the removal of a derelict vehicle requires sequential involvement from the Police Department, the Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), and the Transportation Bureau. Chiu stated that these bureaucratic handoffs create significant delays that compromise urban aesthetics and public safety.
Current multi-stage procedure
The councilor outlined the steps currently required before a vehicle can be legally towed:
- Police inspection: Officers must conduct an on-site investigation and apply a warning sticker.
- Public notice period: A mandatory seven-day waiting period allows owners to voluntarily remove the vehicle.
- Environmental assessment: If the car remains, the EPB must officially certify it as “abandoned.”
- Logistics coordination: The EPB must coordinate with private towing contractors.
- Storage placement: The Transportation Bureau must identify and approve a storage site for the displaced vehicle.
Chiu noted that if any stage of this process encounters a lack of storage space or a delay in inter-departmental document transfers, the timeline frequently extends to many months — if not longer.
Impact on urban governance
Abandoned vehicles often occupy limited public parking spaces and can become sites for illegal activity or the accumulation of refuse. “While the legal integrity of the process is important, the quality of life for citizens should not be sacrificed for the sake of inter-departmental paperwork,” Chiu said.
Proposed “Hao-Hsiung” project
Chiu proposed the implementation of a “Great Kaohsiung Transit” (雄好行) project. The initiative would mandate: Fixed timelines that establish clear, enforceable deadlines for each department’s role in the clearing process, and direct communication via a unified platform to bypass traditional document-heavy coordination between the police and environmental bureaus.
The Kaohsiung City Government has not yet issued a formal response to the proposal. The Police Department, however, previously cited storage facility capacity as the primary bottleneck for rapid vehicle removal.
