In 2025, the Kaohsiung Circular Light Rail Transit (LRT) glided quietly through Kaohsiung’s green corridors. More than a means of transport, it has become a warm, continuous thread weaving together the rhythms of everyday life in the city. Looking back on the year, as the urban transport network grew ever more interconnected, LRT ridership maintained a steady upward trajectory, cementing its role as a vital mode of travel for daily commuting, leisure, and tourism. According to statistics, total ridership on the Kaohsiung LRT surpassed 13.33 million trips in 2025, setting a new record.

The Mass Rapid Transit Bureau noted that since the LRT circular loop was completed, it has seamlessly linked major destinations such as the Pier-2 Art Center, Dream Mall, and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, while also serving school commutes, workplaces, and medical districts. Closely integrated with the MRT, buses, and Taiwan Railways, the LRT now offers truly seamless transfers across public transport modes. In 2025 alone, transfer ridership increased by 14.4%, tourism-related trips by 11.4%, school commuting by 14.0%, and medical visits by 19.3%. These gains reflect a transport network that is more connected, efficient, and convenient, demonstrating the LRT’s transformation from a transport option once associated mainly with sightseeing into a system embraced by the whole city.

The Mass Rapid Transit Bureau further highlighted two notable milestones. On January 31, 2025 (the third day of the Lunar New Year), daily ridership reached 94,403, the highest since fare collection began. Later, on December 13, 2025, when a series of events—including the OPEN! Giant Balloon Parade, Pier-2 anime exhibition, and the Kaohsiung Christmas Party—took place along the line, ridership hit 80,092, setting a new high outside the Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival periods.

Ridership growth has benefited not only from the completion of the full circular loop and the network effects of transfers with the MRT and Taiwan Railways, but also from continuous service enhancements by the Mass Rapid Transit Bureau and the operating company, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation. Measures such as extending the last train departure from 10:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. starting July 12, 2025, adding extra services during morning and afternoon school commuting hours, and deploying additional staff at stations during major events have allowed passengers to tangibly experience service upgrades. Through these efforts, this circular green transit system has come to connect not only the city’s landscape, but also the hearts of its people.

Alongside rising ridership, operational safety has remained a top priority. To ensure a safer and more reassuring travel experience, enhanced measures have been implemented, including additional traffic signals at key intersections, warning lights and signage, audible alerts as LRT vehicles enter intersections, and reinforced personnel deployment, combining security staff and volunteer traffic controllers, at high-risk junctions during peak hours. These efforts aim to provide real-time warnings, remind all road users to remain alert, and encourage compliance with traffic signals. In parallel with technology-assisted enforcement and targeted crackdowns, such measures have helped reduce incidents. 24 collision cases were recorded in 2025, down from 33 in 2024, a significant 27% decrease. The figures attest to the effectiveness of strengthened safety facilities and ongoing awareness campaigns in improving road use behavior among the public.

In anticipation of the upcoming Lunar New Year and the peak travel demand associated with the Kaohsiung Lantern Festival, the Mass Rapid Transit Bureau and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation have made thorough preparations and stand fully ready to ensure that both local residents and visitors can enjoy convenient and safe light rail services throughout Kaohsiung.