Taiwan is a quality ride

Taipei's first experiment with a public bicycle program in 1998 was a lesson in how not to run a public bicycle program.

For an NT$50 deposit -- the price of a cheap lunch -- anyone could borrow a bike. The results were predictable.

"People threw them into rivers. Children rode them down stairwells and crashed them into walls. Other people just stole them," recalls Ho Li-chin (何麗卿), then with the Cycleland Foundation (自行車新文化基金會), which sponsored the project.

Soon, less than one-fifth of the initial 526 bikes remained in working condition. The program was quickly put out of its misery.

"We embarked on the project with the principle that `man is basically good,'" Jack Chen, then Cycleland's vice chairman, told the Taipei Times in a 2000 interview. "It was a test."

So they tried again. In 2000, a more ambitious program was launched by the Taipei City Government and the non-profit foundation, then associated with but now independent from Giant, Taiwan's largest and best-known bicycle brand. Giant donated 1,000 bikes. Rental stations were set up at four city parks. This time precautions were taken: a deposit of NT$1,500 or an ID are required to rent a bike; there are hourly fees; and vandals are fined.

The results have been spectacular. Now, some 5,000 bikes can be rented at 18 locations in Taipei City and Taipei County. The rental lots are open seven days a week and many lie within walking distance of MRT stations and access points to Taipei's riverside bicycle tracks. It is possible to rent a bicycle, take it by MRT to Xindian, ride it all the way to Bali (八里) along riverine track, drop it off at another rental station, and take the MRT home.

Taiwanese companies like Giant and Merida have long led the world in bicycle production, not only in quantity but also in quality and innovation. But only in the past decade have significant numbers of Taiwanese -- who usually zip around on scooters -- discovered the joys of bicycling.

Initiatives like Cycleland's and races organized by groups like the Taiwan Cyclist Federation have helped a small but growing cycling culture take root. City and county governments are laying down bicycle lanes, encouraging children to ride bicycles, and stepping up enforcement of safety rules. There is now an average of one cycling race each month, often along the island's scenic east coast.

Last summer, former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) -- who circumnavigated the island on a bike when he was a college student and started Taipei County's bicycle tracks when he was magistrate there -- announced plans to construct 2,600km of bicycle lanes by 2011. Cyclists say the project is being implemented with an efficiency not often seen in many government projects. Su also ordered the country's schools to teach children about bicycling.

"Taiwan is perfect for cycling," said Ho, who now heads the Taiwan Cyclist Federation (中華民國自行車騎士協會), which she co-founded to promote the competitive sport aspect of bicycling. "It has good terrain; the weather allows for cycling any time of the year; and in Taiwan you can buy a quality ride at a cheap price."

Ho, whose group has supplied 2,000 illustrated bicycling books for children to Taipei City schools, said Taiwanese began to take up bicycling after the introduction of the two-day weekend allowed for more leisure time. Better awareness of health issues has also helped, and the SARS crisis scared many Taiwanese into taking better care of their health.