Safe and convenient routes should be established in and around existing communities, allowing individuals to gradually get out of the habit of making short trips by car or scooter.
When setting out routes for travel to and from work and school, local authorities should not just think in terms of the total length of paths built. Rather, they should think of each village, borough or community as a living space in which all essential services are within cycling range, and then construct integrated route networks that people can use safely and without worries.
Cycle routes built for daily needs are not the kind of thing that is all the rage today, but forgotten tomorrow. Connected together, they could form an island-wide cycling network. Considering the relative advantages, it really is not a good idea to devote all available resources to building riverside cycle tracks that radiate from cities into the surrounding countryside.
Day Yeong-tyi is director of the Sustainable Built Environment Research Center at Chung Yuan Christian University.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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