Over the Past few months we have seen some clear improvements in the mass public transport systems in cities across Taiwan, with mass rapid transport systems connecting with free shuttle buses. The nation is moving quickly toward achieving a more sustainable transportation system.
Over the past 100 years, most countries have tended to adopt motor vehicles as the core mode of transport in their transportation systems, which is reflected in traffic laws and infrastructure. All other options for getting from A to B have been squeezed to the side of the road.
The result of this is that the number of motor vehicles on roads has continued to increase, as have their attendant problems, and the growth in economic activity and urban populations has produced a vicious circle.
Despite the fact that more than 90 percent of the pollution in Taiwan’s cities comes from cars and motorbikes, or that almost half of the fatalities from motor accidents every year are not the drivers of the motor vehicles involved, infrastructure such as pedestrian sidewalks are maintained sporadically or not at all. Pedestrians, then, are often asked to risk life and limb by walking on the streets, forced to avoid cars and motorbikes.
The problem, and the situation, is very clear. What is needed is the establishment of a sustainable traffic system that will incorporate mass public transport, pedestrians and bicycles, and which can exist in parallel with the existing motor vehicle traffic system.
Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) trains are already becoming an integral part of the city’s public transport system, but if the system is going to become more sustainable, the bus portion needs development to attract more drivers to switch to public transport.
Making bicycles more central to the system as a mode of transport is becoming increasingly common around the world. Cities taking part in this are moving toward the creation of well-connected, dense bicycle networks that are integrated with the mass transportation system, greatly reducing the amount of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Bicycles in Copenhagen, Denmark, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90,000 tonnes a year. The trouble is, if caution is not observed, promoting the use of bikes can also sometimes lead to unfortunate results.
Amsterdam started investing in its bicycle infrastructure back in the 1970s, with the intention of turning the bicycle into a major part of its transportation network.
Unfortunately, the growth in population and a rise in the number of cars also led to greatly increased deaths among cyclists on the city streets and a lot of people took to walking instead. Then came the energy crisis, and with it the “car-free Sunday” policy, heralding a new era for cycle transport within Amsterdam.
At present, about 7.8 million people live in Amsterdam and, on average, there is more than one car for each person.
Other cities promoting the use of non-motorized traffic vehicles, like Copenhagen and Hangzhou, China, have enhanced the environment in which city residents live, making the city as a lot more attractive.
The immediate benefits of introducing these sustainable traffic policies include a reduction in congestion, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in the general level of health among the population. Residents are more relaxed, workers are more productive and the city itself is just so much more pleasant to live in.
However, nobody is saying, that fostering a wider environment conducive to the use of bicycles and walking in Taiwan does not present considerable challenges. If cycling and walking are to be encouraged, several things need doing.
First, a culture that supports them needs to be created and then the correct infrastructure needs to be put in place.
There are certain concrete steps that the government can take. It can integrate pedestrian thoroughfares and bicycle infrastructure with mass transportation systems and further coordinate these with long distance commutes.
It can also introduce changes to intersections to provide less interrupted pedestrian access, and plant more trees to provide shaded paths.
This could all be complemented with proper guidance and public education, including how to be more mindful of personal safety, and emphasizing being considerate when alighting from or getting on transport and giving right of way to pedestrians.
Health is very much at the forefront of people’s minds in Taiwan today.
Certainly, there are many forms of activity, like walking and cycling, that do not have to cost a lot of money and which are healthy. A big push to keep developing in this way could well bring clear benefits to health and welfare on the personal and wider social levels.
Hua Jian is an associate professor of marine engineering at National Taiwan Ocean University.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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